Miracles
by Vampiric-Conure
Summary: Bumblebee and the Autobots meet up with a mysterious femme who's Somehow connected to Primus. She's connected to the Fallen, too, but how? SLASH WARNING
1. Angel and Demons

**NOTES:** Allo Allo! First chapter of 'Miracles'! Just some basics about this AU. This is post ROTF and once the third movie comes out, I'll find a way to work that movie into this story. This is Bayverse with a bit of other universes thrown in. Some G1 but mostly Bayverse. I don't want this as complicated as 'Infections', so there will fewer OCs involved. I'm notoriously slow at writing. I'm an artist first and foremost, so writing tends to sit on the back burner for a while.

I write a lot of intense Slash/lemony fresh hetero/WTF herm fics. You've been warned :)

**I don't read reviews** - too long an explanation but there's medical reasons involved. MANY apologies to those who love that feature! I figure if people like this story they'll fave it. If they don't they won't. This however leads to my next comment:

**I'm looking for Betas.** I NEED BETAS! HELP MEEEEE! I tend to have my head thrown into so many details, despite the side notes and TF WIKI that I will miss some huge plot holes if I'm not careful.

**Edited to Add:** Been going back to clean up some errors and smooth out wording.

So... With that out of the way I present to you 'Miracles'.

_Chapter 1 - Angel and Demons_

'Fragging Breeders.'

Bumblebee looked up, startled at the sound of the femme's annoyed tone. Genesis was arched over a low box, swatting away clouds of something that would dance out of her way but would then only swarm back to the area she was muttering over. Only when the Autobot looked closer did he understand that she was swearing at the worst case of fruit flies she had ever seen.

'What's wrong?'

'Troth left some bad veggies here. Disgusting.'

Bumblebee sighed, a low mechanical sound that almost moaned. Genesis had been busy cleaning things the past few days, a ferverent bustling that would have made Sunstreaker blush she was so focused. Bee got out of her way when Genesis rose to the closet and pulled out cleaning supplies. It was wise to stay out of the way of the expectant creator.

Bumblebee put down the data card he was reading, careful to stuff it into place should his mate lose it, or worse. Troth , or rather, _**The**_ Troth was Genesis' strange name for what Bumblebee knew as Pretenders. While 'Bee, Optimus and his team mates required energon, the Troth still required organic materials to supplement the organic half of their bodies. Unfortunately Organic foods were a pain in the skid plate to scrape up when they went bad.

'Bee would know. He had essentially taken in a Troth as his mate after the mess in Egypt.

Genesis was shoulder deep in the storage container, her spiked, red and black aft wiggling in the air as she scrubbed. Every so often her devil-like tail would jerk sharply in annoyance. Bumblebee couldn't help but lean over to both watch his mate with a touch of humor and arousal. When she finally pulled out, Bumblebee pretended to be cleaning some unseen speck off his servo, pulling off the look with a skillful expression of innocence.

Rave sat on her rump and stared up at her mate. She wiped the last of the nauseating goop from her hands and tossed the rag into the incinerator bucket beside her.

'Glad that's over with.' she said and began to rise.

Bee sighed his moan-like groan again. His mate turned to face him, huffing sharply.

'What?'

'You really should be resting,' he said, offering her one of his servos.

'I'm tired of resting.' she said, avoiding his blue eyes. 'Bee ran his finger down the front of her chassis, then lay his palm over her spark chamber, feeling it - and the extra pulse - residing there. She took his hand and was immediately drawn into his embrace. 'Why you still here, anyways?'

'Wanted to be here with you,' he said, nuzzling her neck. He nudged her shoulder plates with a playful bump then arched over her, holding his mate so she didn't fall. Genesis squeaked loudly and gave him a playful slap over the shoulder.

'You're worse than the humans.' she said, wrapping her arms around the yellow and black mecha's neck. In response he released the pins keeping his battle mask up and he butted her again with it down.

'I love you.' he groaned, the 'words' formed by low sighs created by his joints. It was quickly followed by a sound clip from his huge personal sound file library, where Forest copied his future principal's perverted grunting.

Genesis broke into hysterical laughter. The two shared complicated histories, both riddled with chaos. Although 'Bee and Genesis adored each other, their appreciation for each other was far from ordinary. How could it be? She had shared her spark energy with 'Bee to save his life, and many had finally come to terms that the reason why they had bonded so soon after meeting was for many, complicated reasons.

For one, Genesis carried the first spark fracture, or rather, 'sparkling', anyone on Cybertron had ever encountered. Anyone. While there were many rumours among the humans who frequented the Island Nest called home as to who may have caused the fracture, none of the rumours were true. Bumblebee, as the saying went, didn't have the existing equipment to 'cause' Genesis' condition. The femme had remained tight lipped about the whole situation. As for the few humans Bumblebee and Genesis allied themselves with- it was alarming enough surviving Megatron and the Fallen, never mind knowing that the rouge femme could reproduce when it was clear the All Spark had been Cybertron's soul reason for existing. No amount of prodding or lecturing had loosened Genesis' facts on the situation. Finally everyone had let it be, Ratchet reluctantly accepting that he was dealing with unknowns.

There were so many unknowns surrounding Genesis.

It had been hard to suddenly explain Bee's long absences to Sam and Mikaela after Egypt. Why he was so obsessed with her. Even harder to explain that Genesis had been found among the bodies of the Primes when the Matrix had been found. Then ... Then there was Bumblebee's story of him being attacked by some dark entity hell bent on stripping 'him of his entire life force, never mind his spark. He said the aspect of himself that existed in Primus' hands and would have re-joined the God in the well of All Sparks had been threatened. It had been almost impossible to explain why 'Bee and the then unknown Genesis had been locked in mid-spark merge, Bee unable to say a single word as he damn near screamed with release as he overloaded in front of the curious humans. He rarely brought up the moment and would have been horrified has he not known that Genesis was attempting to jump start his systems with her own power core.

He had heard something in the chamber of the Primes. Fearing it another lurking Decepticon, he had wandered over, weapon powered up. Next thing he knew he had felt himself separated into two halves, as if his reality had shifted from the physical to another, unseen world. He had fought the shadows seeping over him. It had been like the worst nightmares he had seen in battle, only he was losing and couldn't connect with the creatures after him in his split reality. He had been on the verge of falling over an abyss, being dragged by... By... _SOMETHING. _He had no words to describe the pure terror he had felt and he thought he had felt it all as a soldier.

Then suddenly he had been grabbed by a stranger. There'd been whispers of comfort, hands gripping him on one level while what felt like the Wrath of Unicron himself bringing the force of the pit up against the creatures attempting to hijack the Autobot. Bumblebee had felt his physical body slowly separate and loud swearing in both a strange human tongue and Cybertronian had rung out in the tomb. Then his split reality became one again as she had almost shoved him back into his body. When the separation threatened to reoccur and his spark slowly faded within his physical body, he had felt a bright light, warm and inviting. Next thing he knew he was screaming into reality. How Sam and Mikaela had blushed when they realized what they had witnessed. If they had been embarrassed by Ratchet's comment on mating, Bee had been truly humiliated being caught red servoed with Genesis' hands up his chassis.

Then he had to explain everything to the pair, then his superiors and then to members of the NEST team, a topic he couldn't comprehend himself.

Luckily no one was there to witness 'Bee doing the exact same thing to Genesis at that moment.

'Been a while,' the yellow and black mecha mumbled. Bee lifted his bar-eyed mask and snapped it back into place over his head. Genesis was smiling, tracing the Autobot's cheek plates and chin with a single servo.

'Yeah. We've.. Well you've been so preoccupied with Optimus and the others,' she said. 'Prepping for whatever chaos the 'Cons have for you.' Her voice trailed off as she spoke and dropped the clean cloth she was still holding. She pulled the yellow and black mecha closer. 'Bee already had his fingers teasing away her spark chamber's access door. That had been the start of their relationship. Several Earth Orbits later and they still couldn't keep their paws off each other. It was because of their forced bonding and 'Bee swore he never regretted it.

He stroked Genesis' spark chamber gently and positioned himself above her, using the wall beside them to brace their activities. He was mounting her in a matter of moments, the two of them eagerly pawing at each other's chest plates.

When they had first found her, it had been clear the femme was Cybertronian. She was unusual in several aspects. For one, not only could she scan and save more alt forms than anyone Ratchet had met in vorns, but her alt forms could also consist of organic materials, her systems accurately constructing and not just MIMICKING things such as hair, nails and claws. Her form had stumped Ratchet, who had seen advanced Pretender schematics as Head Medical Officer on Cybertron, but _nothing_ like Genesis.

'Bee grunted at the memory, easily sliding his spark into his mate's. There was a bright flash and tendrils of light crawled out from their union. Bee was doing what he could to keep himself upright. He groaned loudly, blue eyes closed tight as he felt his systems stimulated by her invading energies. It was several years after 'Bee had been bought by Sam. The two were still close companions though, regrettably, he had still been barred from following the young human to college. The US government had laid off the Autobots and the Decepticons ... It appeared they had gone into hiding for a while. As to where he didn't know. One in a while there'd been reports of Barricade and Scorpinok, but nothing confirmed.

Genesis sensed 'Bee's tension as he thought and sent a pulse through their merged link. The sensation was fluid, comforting and erotic. 'Bee's response was immediate and arched over his mate, whimpering in her ear. Every so often a gasp would rise from him, followed by a shudder. 'Bee held her hips, caressing her stomach and knees. She reciprocated by letting him seek her mouth, her throat - anything that he could get his hands on. The Autobot had learned much about Genesis yet he still knew little about her. He didn't know where she came from except that she had been on earth almost as long as Cybertron had existed. Oddly, she had been clueless about many of humanity's creations, such as the World Wide Web and satellites. She had taken an instant adoration to the human's Internet and had started experimenting on 'bee some of the things she learned about humans, from music to, oddly, Mating habits. She reminded him of a feral neutral. A beautiful neutral but one who needed to be treated in such a way to prevent being bitten. 'Bee took one of the lessons from his own book and applied it to his mate, kissing her with such exuberance that she almost slipped from her precarious perch beneath her mate. She rose, teasing his mouth derma, seeking his mouth's warmth. This was their love making. This was as direct as they got. No waiting, no begging, passionate and often, a little too loud. The Autobot could make the sensations linger for hours if the pair of them had the patience, but this was, in part, what drew Genesis to protecting and adoring her mate. It was is spontaneous moods and bright way of handling things.

'Bee came to release first, a desperate panting escaping his vocal processor as excitement overcame his frame. He did what he could to hold back, aching to see his mate was pleasured before he but by then it was too late. An impressive flash filled the room when he finally overloaded, and he planted his fists beside Rave as he ground his spark deeper into that of his mate's. The action made her grimace. Not out of pain but out of the added stimulation. He could feel her energy tighten around his as she threw her head back, clicking randomly in her attempts to form coherent words. Her gasps became Bumblebee's name cried out repetitively and 'Bee continued with his mouth play. Her throat, her audio sensors. The ridges that ran down her neck, over her chest and across her solar plexus. His hands sought her sides, her chest and traced the row of delicate sensors running down her stomach to her groin. He held his mate close as he continued to explore her, eager to feel her clutch him as she cried out. It was times like these that he could ignore the war and simply let himself feel _happy_.

'The floor.'

'Bee smiled at his mate's whispered gasp, her panting following him down as he positioned himself above her a second time. Her head was cradled in one of his large hands, giving him ample room to stroke her throat. Moments later he felt her spark's energy tighten again around his and she gasped loudly. The rippling pulse from her stimulated his own spark further and the pair ended up groaning as one unit, their minds, emotions and existence fusing as one entity. It sounded cliche, but they became one creation, _was-Genesis_ finally welding with _was-Bumblebee_, their thoughts for an instant creating a new creature. A bright release of energy exploded from them, making the room appear it was filled with unobscured sunlight. It lingered for several seconds before it faded, leaving the mated pair rest against each other, utterly exhausted.

'Lets hope nobody heard that.' Bumblebee muttered absentmindedly. Genesis grinned widely and held the Autobot's head with one hand.

'If they did, you can always tell them you left the tv on the Playboy channel on. Recording clips, don't chy'a know.'

A huff rose from the Yellow and Black Autobot. 'It didn't work last time.'

'Considering it was on your supposed patrol duty? I shouldn't be surprised.'

Bumblebee huffed again. He dragged the front of his face up over his mate's belly before rising, carefully closing his spark chamber before he got to his peds. Genesis did the same, grabbing her mate's offered hand as she double checked that her own chamber door was secure.

'Not my fault you forgot Optimus wanted me to report on the hour,' he said teasingly. 'Should have kept the comm line closed.'

Genesis did an eye roll that looked remarkably like Mikaela after talking to Sam over a particularly frustrating subject. 'Bee chuckled, then returned to his data card.

Primus.. He couldn't remember being so _happy_!


	2. Spooked

**Notes:**

'Verbal' ,_ 'Thought', _//_Spirit-speak_//, **Cybertronian**

* * *

_Chapter 2 - Spooked_

'Bee met up with Ironhide at the base of the mountain, the early light scathing in it's brilliance. The older black 'bot was busy chewing scrap as he cleaned out his cannons. Above them, sitting perched like some confused bird was Mikaela, her hair pulled back and tied behind her head to keep the wind from whipping it back into her face. Sadly, her feeble attempts at fighting nature were failing miserably. She was staring out across the sandy beach out over the ocean, watching ships sail by in the distance. Below her, on the sand, Genesis sat cross legged and frozen as if in a trance.

'Why does she do this again?' Mikaela asked, tearing her vision away from the water to 'Bee. 'Bee shrugged.

'Says she needs the sun to recharge some of her ...' 'Bee paused, scowling. 'Mechanisms.'

'At five-god-knows-what in the morning?'

Another silent shrug from 'Bee. He looked intensely human when he did that.

This had been one of Genesis' bizarre habits from the first day she had been tolerated among Autobot ranks. She would get up when the sun hadn't risen and slip into what seemed to be a trance. Only when the sun was well over the horizon would the femme pull out of her slumber. It had caused quite the stir the first time when she hadn't moved despite constant prodding, even after repetitive scans from Ratchet. It appeared she was dead - literally DEAD - to the universe and only when Ironhide had threatened to 'show her' his cannons that she had sprung to life. There had been challenges from everyone at that point, Optimus acting as wrangler. Sideswipe started mouthing off and Jolt had to hold the mech back before he left a few dents in the red and black femme's armour. Then Ratchet, who had been scanning the smaller femme, nearly dropped his instrument when he discovered she carried two sparks, one of which had not existed during his first few inspections.

Genesis had remained tight lipped about why she had the second spark. Optimus had dragged her aside for a polite game of questions and answers. The only one who had gotten anything from the femme had been 'Bee and even then it had been limited. Only after his admission he had a crush on her and they had started the mating game did she loosen up and explain minor details about herself. Most of it didn't make sense to him. Something about seeking a Ka and needing a vessel in which to carry it in.

But there were physical aspects to her morning soaks under morning sunlight. Her dips into her death mimicking stasis (Or so Ratchet could only surmise) drained her so deeply of energy that she needed the sun to recharge her enough that she could move. She always returned to base terribly weakened yet once she had seen the sun and had basked in its rays she was normal. Yet it kept everyone, especially Ratchet, a tad flabbergasted. The femme had no control over her actions. It had taken one order to keep her at base once to keep her in stasis lock for three days.

No-one questioned her need for the sun rise after that.

Mikaela cringed when a particularly annoying squeal came up from ironhide's chewing.

'Why do you guys eat scrap again?' she asked.

'Nanites need the scrap to form ammunition' the Topkick said with a grunt.

'-So there's no need reloading. Yeah. Now I remember.' There was a pause as Mikaela watched Ironhide stuff another round of scrap into his mouth. She couldn't help but stifle a giggle when she immediately had visions of Ironhide hunting after the cars on the highway for their steel like the T-rex from the first J_urassic Park_ movie. The image of a car door hanging from his mouth was too good an image to pass up. 'So.. Any news from 'Sides about what Optimus has planned today?'

Bee looked up from his half hearted digging in the sand. He knocked the accumulated dirt off his foot before staring off at his mate. 'Decepticon watch. Keep an eye out for news. There's going to be something when things have been this quiet for this long.'

Mikaela's expression became grim at the news and she slowly made her way down from her perch, grabbing rocks and testing them before stepping down them backwards. 'Bee gently took her and let her hop off it and into the sand with a 'thump'.

It was several more minutes before a shudder and sigh caused everyone to look up and 'Bee smiled as he saw Genesis slowly rouse from her stasis. She seemed dazed and her eyes were almost black she was so weak. He went to his mate's side and helped her up, carrying her instead when she couldn't stand to walk. 'Bee was glad someone was always assigned to stand by her during her early morning ritual. If the Decepticons, or heaven forbid _humans_ attempted to attack her she would have not fared well. 'Bee shuddered to think of the consequences.

'Morning bugz,' she muttered, snuggling close to the 'bot's neck.

'Bee simply chirped a happy noise and lay her down further up the beach where the sun would have the best effect on her and the sand drier. Ironhide stuffed the last of his scrap into his mouth and made his way to the pair with Mikaela in tow. 'Bee was stroking his mate's head, the pair silently sharing comments via their private comm link. Bee suddenly chuckled and leaned over lay his head against his mate's head, going through the motions of a human peck on the forehead before he rose.

The sound of another mech behind them made them turn and Jolt appeared over the low line of rocks bordering the beach.

'All is well I take it?' he said loudly and with a smirk. 'I saw movement and thought I'd check.'

Ironhide grunted. 'All's clear.' He stared out across the ocean and transformed. 'It's a bit boring if you ask me. '

'Bee immediately mimicked the motions used by Sam when he rolled his eyes.

'Don't you be starting that on me,' Ironhide said, trying to hide an annoyed tone. 'Bee could almost feel the older Autobot shove a finger into his chest as he made his point. 'It's bad enough the human boy does it.'

'He spent several years in the boy's garage' Jolt said calmly, letting Mikaela. 'Give him some slack.'

Ironhide simply snorted.

At this point Genesis suddenly sat straight up, eyes bright green. She hacked several times and seemed disoriented before 'Bee grabbed her arm to gently steady her. She rose, still wobbly.

She muttered something in Cybertronian, which her mate cocked his head at, obviously not comprehending what she said. She shook her head, the action almost sending her landing on her aft. Jolt stood staring at her a moment before hopping down to join his comrades.

'Do you need more time?' he asked the femme and she shook her head. Her ordeal had left her weak but she seemed stronger than she had been the past few times they had acted as her guardian. It wasn't the first time Jolt was grateful that Optimus had them take the most inactive shore on the coast. It wasn't perfect but it provided enough sunlight away from human activity that Genesis could fulfil her needs in peace. It also allowed the Autobots to wander in biped mode without alarming anyone.

It also gave him the room to play a prank or six as no-one was close enough to hear Ironhide scream for miles.

'Where to from here?' 'Bee asked. He and Genesis both turned to Jolt who looked down at Ironhide.

'We have a meeting with Sideswipe and the others back at base.' Ironhide answered after a thought. He started rolling foreword as Jolt transformed into his blue and black alt mode. 'Chromia and the others are awaiting.'

'Hopefully without Galloway make a mess of things. Again.' 'Bee huffed as he, too, transformed. His mate wobbled slightly before she joined him at his side as a red and black Suzuki Aerio. She was slow starting but soon followed the others as they made their way back to their temporary home.

By the time they made it back to the small set of buildings built into the side of the mountain, Genesis was torn between wanting to sleep and being to tired to think straight. She didn't bother transforming as she followed her companions into the dark maw that served as an underground garage and followed the Topkick, Volt and Camero down the steep ramp to the bunker below.

The scene there was as it always was. Military automobiles milled about carting boxes of every random item imaginable from weaponry (both human and Cybertronian) to food and spare parts. The others easily avoided these obstacles and with the exception of Genesis, grunted a random greeting to the individual humans who called out to them.

Lennox and Epps stood on a mobile walkway having a deep discussion with Sideswipe as Optimus looked on. Bumblebee was first to transform and greeted the others with a cheerful chirp. Jolt wandered to Sideswipe, Mikaela in hand, to give him a playful swat on the shoulder before going to see what his human companions. It seemed he was curious if they needed help as they chattered loudly over a sheet of blueprints and a large pile of wiring and tubing lay scattered at their feet. Wheelie was busy picking through it making weird chattering noises that were reminiscent of an excited, oversized rat. Ironhide joined Optimus' side, leaving the lone femme to roll towards her quarters in peace.

It didn't last long. She was soon followed by a cool draft that startled her at first. It was immediately followed by a familiar presence that had greeted her ever since her appearance among the Autobots.

//_Hey babe!_//

It was more of a thought that wasn't heard with physical audio sensors. If anything it was similar to the communication between Mecha when they used their personal comm frequencies, only more subtle. It was also very VERY hard to ignore when the spirit speaking to you suddenly materialized as a floating, glowing blob right beside you.

With an internal sigh Genesis rolled her optics. She was NOT in the mood for this. Not now.

//_Hey. I heard that. Jus' trying to be nice._// came the crestfallen reply.

'Not your fault, Jazz,' the femme muttered under her breath. Thankfully she was alone so she didn't have to make up excuses for her apparent, sudden insanity.

//_How was the 'trip?'_//

Genesis snorted. As tired as she was, he kept her amused.

'Same as always. Sit in sand. Die. Wake up, alive. Sun still shiny and not blown up due to insane God-wanna be. All is good.'

//_Could be worse._//

'Like what?'

//_Die and NOT wake up. Oh! Better yet, No sun!_//

Genesis couldn't avoid a mental smirk at the comment. She transformed when she got to the quarters she and 'bee shared. Jazz had been her constant companion ever since she had been pulled from the tomb of the Primes. She lay her head against the doorframe before popping in her code. She hated feeling this exhausted. It was like that after sitting in the dark for too long. Far too long. Jazz had been the one to find her when Bumblebee had been attacked. As all spirits, they knew who was aware of the dead and the living and as the early Primes had been attracted to energon, Jazz had been drawn to her. He was one of the few spirits who she tolerated. Everyone else, including the few fallen human solders she had seen, had avoided her after a snap, growl and a stern warning to leave her be. She sighed a depressed sigh when the doors slid open with a soft hiss. She turned to face the glowing orb only to hear him going through her stuff behind her. She groaned.

'I would have invited you in, but you know how 'Bee hates it when you-' she said, knowing her lecture would go unheeded.

Jazz waved her off, and stuff randomly started falling off the table on the physical level as Jazz tossed them to the side. _//I told you I lost it last time. That's why he couldn't find it.//_

Genesis growled and made her way to the basic set up that made up the kitchen. She flicked on her ultraviolet light and like a tired bird, settled under it on the small berth that she had set up for herself, arm wrapped over her head. She laid her head on the shelving beside her and settled down to soak up much more needed light, already feeling better. Beneath half hooded eyes she could see Jazz trying desperately to pick up the things he dropped and failing miserably. He would reach for it, only to have his fingers slide through the solid mass. Several times he stopped to concentrate. On his sixth swipe he managed to do what he wanted and laid the mass of data cards back on the table.

_//Why you need that anyways?// _he said._ // You're the only one I know who's ever needed something like that.//_

'You wouldn't understand.'

_//Try me. I won't tell. Promise.// _The silver Autobot crossed his chest in a gesture of honesty, then held up his fingers in the humans' two fingered salute of honour.

'Only if you tell me why you keep stealing 'Bee's access cards for the main storage hanger.'

_//Spooks guarding it don't want me in. I can't imagine why.// _Genesis snorted at the look of innocence the Autobot gave her. Last time he'd been there she had seen him running hell bent from two mecha guardians. From what she had wrangled from the two invisible and nameless security mecha, he had found their private stash of energon. Being the prankster-at-heart he had tried swiping a cube but ended up scaring a troop of human officers in training when he ran THROUGH them when he had been caught. Some had scattered like ants chased by Raid. It didn't help that the silver Autobot had managed to convince the entire troop that there was a resident poltergeist in the hanger when he knocked something over in his fleeing, sending an entire row of shelves clattering to the floor. The ring of that echoing through the Bunker still hummed in her audios. Genesis smirked at the memory. Sometimes it was amusing being the only living being on base to experience the astral plains.

Jazz cheered softly when he found what he was looking for and he and the card suddenly disappeared as they dropped through the floor as if it didn't exist. The femme shook her head, grateful for the silence at last. There was only a few minutes peace as she attempted to slip into recharge when she heard an angry yell from one of the guards and the sound of the security mecha running after Jazz.

Genesis sighed, annoyed. 'Primus, why me?' she sighed and rolled over in her berth to bury her head between her elbows.


	3. Afraid of the Dark

**Note:** Ever been in an area supposedly haunted by ghosts? The next best thing would be a 'fear cage', which is a room or area with extremely high EMF readings. Those happen around old electrical equipment or Power boxes. Yeah. Now turn those sensations up by a couple of hundred degrees and you have the feeling what poor Sam went through ^.^

* * *

_Chapter 3 - Afraid of the Dark_

Sam watched as another round of giggling first years trudged by him, the girls holding their books as if they were surrogate boyfriends. Considering how much some of the texts cost, he wasn't surprised they were reluctant to let them go. He looked down at his own stack and sighed, then pulled himself off the Picnic table he was sitting on. He was glad none of this was being paid for by himself. Someone played something truly loud and upbeat in the parking lot and not for the first time since Egypt did Sam truly miss his companions. The sun was high, the day hot and Sam had four hours to kill before his next science class. As annoyed with his mechanical companions as he was, he really missed some of them. 'Bee mainly. Yet at the same time he was grateful. Thankful that he was being allowed some sanity in his life. He looked up and froze, thinking he saw a familiar looking silver Solstice in the parking lot. When he blinked it was gone. He shook his head and trudged on, trotting up the steps to the main library for some study time.

It had been a complicated start to university. First the problems with him and Mikaela had almost destroyed what relationship they fought to keep. Then the damn All Spark fiasco happened and, as usual, he made himself to look like a complete ass in public. Not that it was his fault, mind you, but still. Then the appearance of the Fallen had completely blown his college year to hell. Then there was the threat of the sun blowing up - he stopped to lay the back of his head against the nearest book shelf, eyes closed tight with frustration. Transformers. Cybertronians. Who would have known his first car would have been so much trouble? Why him? The conversation he and Optimus had about Fate still rang in his head, a lead weight to his heart. He had, against the goading of his parents, against Mikaela and Optimus, decided to still go to school. A different one from the last as the bizarre human-like Decepticon had damn near blown his life to hell with half the campus with it.

Then there was this odd presence that he _SWORE_ was stalking him. It started when he got back from Egypt. It felt like someone or something was watching him. Every so often the hairs on the back of his neck would rise and something large would walk by him. Sometimes things would go missing and appear in the weirdest places just when he needed them most.

He shook the thought off and made his way to one of the study tables, shoving old books aside. He took one of the table top reading lamps and arched it over his work space.

'Phase two of the rest of my life' he muttered. He wanted his life to stop being a whirlwind of chaos, which, if he kept even 'Bee around for long, would quickly whip into a raging volcanic tornado.

Sliding out one of his science texts on Physics, he attempted to shove the past out of his mind. It must have been at least two hours when suddenly that damnable 'watched' feeling started again. It stared slowly over a minute. It was annoying, but there seemed to be something more urgent with the glare this time, as if something important was needed or wanted from him. Then the feeling hit with a vengeance. He kept looking over his shoulder, shaken, to see what the hell was causing the sensation. On cute, every hair on him started to rise. It got so bad that the guy next to him was shooting him dirty looks over his lamp. Sam, finally having had enough, slammed his text shut and shoved it in his backpack with such force that the whole table shook. He ignored the angry glared the guy next to him shot in his direction and Sam made his way to the stairs. The watched feeling turned to a feeling of utter and complete _dread_. It sat in his stomach like a dead weight, and he could swear something was giving him orders to move. He stopped dead in his tracks to turn up another set of stairs, then shot up them, skipping two steps at a time. That's when he saw Ravage slowly walking towards him in the hall.

The fact that no-one was screaming in terror at the sight of the giant, spined cat was the first freaky thing he noticed. The fact some of the students naturally avoided him as if they knew he was there and didn't want to bump into him was another.

Then there was the fact _Ravage_ had _died_ in Egypt in his fight against 'Bee.

'Oh no.' Sam said, panicked. 'It's happening again!' He swatted his forehead several times with both palms and looked again. The cat mimic had paused in his stalk towards the human boy and seemed to be watching something behind him. Unnerved, Sam slowly turned to look over his shoulder.

Whatever it was, it was beyond horrifying. He couldn't see it, but he felt it. A darkness that hovered on some distant abyss, threatening to do... Something to him. It seemed to trigger everything terrible and horrible from his nightmares and he knew if he didn't move _now_, it was going to do something a whole lot worse to him than any Decepticon ever could do. It was the way the presence, the lightless mass came towards him, floating above the ground in some weird shape he couldn't pinpoint. The closer it came, the faster Sam moved, making the boy bump into people as he fled.

'Sorry. Gotta go.' he said absentmindedly to the people he ran into. 'Something trying to kill me.'

The faster he moved the faster the thing came towards him, triggering everything terrifying in his mind he could think of. He went from a fast walk, to a run, then with a fit of speed, a run for his life. Whatever the presence was came after him with a fit of fury, even catching up to him. He could feel every nerve of his being scream in terror. A snarl came from beside him, sounding far too much like Ravage did in battle and a gust of freezing air shot past him as one gigantic mass. Sam suddenly tripped, landing face first as he shot out the library doors and onto the lawn before it. He swore there'd been a scream and several mechanical snarls before the world around him became quiet. Students gathered around him, wondering what had happened. Sam ignored the questioning looks he was getting used to receiving and, as fast as he could run, found his dorm and barricaded himself in it.

Jazz, standing in his spot in the parking lot and ignoring the throngs of humans avoiding his parking space, looked at Ravage with a frown. The cat, who had avoided the Autobot like the plague to this point, was returning with a satisfied look on his face.

//_Genesis is not going to like this._// he said, worried.


	4. Defenses

**Notes:**

'Speaking', '_Thought_', //_Spirit Speak_//, **Cybertronian**

* * *

_Chapter 4 - Defenses_

The panicked voice in Sam's voice over the phone was enough to make Mikaela shake slightly. She looked up at the red and black Aerio sitting in her garage with a frown.

'Wha..what?' she stuttered, not quite comprehending what she was heard.

'I swear I'm going crazy!' the boy hissed, his voice broadcasted slightly from the sheer volume of his panic. 'Ravage! In the _MIDDLE OF THE HALL_.'

'Could this be residual energy from the All Spark?' she hissed back into the phone, elbow on the wall. She scratched her forehead with her free hand. She wasn't completely sure what she was hearing, but whatever it was wasn't normal. Not to say their current life could ever be considered 'normal' again.

'How the hell should I know? I think I'm going nuts! And I swear I saw...' a pause. Mikaela could almost feel Sam's frustration radiate off the phone in waves. 'You wouldn't believe me.' Sam's voice sounded despondent. Angry.

'Your car is a giant walking alien robot. Try me.'

'Some face came out of the wall.'

'A _What_?' Mikaela hissed loudly, grabbing the phone with two hands.

'A _face_. Some big metal, pointy _face_. It just sat there and stared at me, smiled and said I was doing a good job before it freaking _disappeared_!' Mikaela heard someone walk past Sam on the other side of the line before he started talking again. 'How the hell does a metal face come out of _drywall_?'

'You need to talk to someone. Optimus... Your parents.'

'Oh right. And who's going to believe me?' Mikaela cringed at the frustrated gasp as Sam continued. 'I swear I saw Jazz in the parking lot yesterday! How can I _see anyone_ who's been dead for the past three years? And I saw _GRANDMA_!' Mikaela frowned, pursing her lips as Sam almost wailed. 'Just when I thought things could get back to normal! I'm going crazy! First the Autobots and their war. I thought I could handle that, but-' Sam made a strangled noise as panic overtook him.

The phone call had come out of the blue and oddly, the last place she had expected to be called by Sam was at work, especially with him on the verge of screaming. Mikaela huffed slightly as she grasped for answers, ideas, anything that would help placate the hysterical whimpering on the other side of the phone.

Genesis, from her spot in the corner of the human female's garage, studied Mikaela with curiosity. She cocked her head, an oddly bird-like motion and Mikaela covered the phone's speaker to answer the femme's inquisitive look.

'Sam's having problems at school.' she said simply. She returned to her phone conversation. 'I can talk to them. 'Bee, even. He's here if -'

'NO!' Sam shouted. 'Nononono! Keep them out of this!'

'If it's related to the last battle -'

'I want out of their war, out of their -'

Genesis sudden voice startled Mikaela so soundly that she almost dropped the receiver.

'Perhaps I can speak to him?' The femme offered her hand.

Mikaela nodded. 'Sam hang on.' She said. She offered the receiver to Genesis out of habit but was waved away as the femme reached out to pick up the phone cord. Immediately the red and black femme's voice was heard over the line, her voice sounding rather odd. Mikaela, accustomed to seeing the femme speak over the phone line without moving her mouth, continued to speak into the receiver.

'Okay. She's here.'

'Human Sam Witwicky?' Genesis began said calmly. Sam's distraught grunt answered her and she couldn't resist a smile. ' You have difficulties? Tell me. I'm...' She frowned, trying to find the words. Despite all the time she spent watching Youtube, she still had problems speaking english and had a rather odd accent that no-one could pinpoint. ' I'm... Unrelated to the battle between the factions.'

'You wouldn't believe me.' Sam muttered, a hoarse whisper.

'As your friend so firmly stated, you are talking to a giant, walking car.'

Sam sighed, annoyed, then let himself speak after collecting his thoughts for a few moments. 'What do you know about our last battle?' he said slowly.

Genesis was quiet on her end. There was a click over the connection and her eyes dimmed slightly as she accessed her private video files. When she spoke again, her tone was soft.

'Optimus died and was resurrected. There were many deaths as is to be expected with this conflict. You died. I remember that. You were with the Primes, as was -' There was a scowl as she tried to form the words in english. '**Ptah** was there, too.' she said instead, her Cybertronian stressed.

Mikaela's head shot up to stare at the red and black femme, her expression utterly confused. Sam went deathly quiet.

'Who?' Sam said. He swallowed. Only he knew there had been others among the Primes. Not even Optimus knew about them.

'**Ptah**. You've spoken to the Autobot leader about the seekers, have you not?'

'Yes, but there was no mention of... Whoever it is you're talking about.'

Genesis huffed slightly and Sam had an overwhelming suspicion she was laughing at him. He was even more confused now and he threw a look over his shoulder, the damnable watching sensation creeping up on him again.

'It's happening again.' Sam whispered. He clenched his eyes tight, praying that the _dread_ feeling didn't follow suit.

'What is?' Mikaela said, straightening sharply.

'Something is here.'

That caught Genesis' attention and her expression darkened.

'What is?' Genesis asked.

'I. Don't. Know.' Sam huffed and a little louder added, 'It's been like this ever since Egypt. I'm seeing things, feeling things..._ I don't know_. It's been crazy!'

'Explain the sensations.' Genesis said. The femme leaned back against the wall and again her eyes dimmed as she accessed private memory files.

'Like someone's watching me. I keep seeing people. Family. Jazz. Then there's the face I saw.' Sam rubbed his forehead. 'Then I was chased by something yesterday.'

Genesis emitted a growl on Mikaela's end, which translated as dark static over the phone line. A jumble of Cybernetic clicks caused mild feedback across the line and Mikaela jumped back as Genesis suddenly transformed.

This was not good news.

'I understand more than you can imagine, Sam.' she said sternly, the tone of her voice changing frequency as she jumped from touching the phone line to digital interference. 'Perhaps I understand more than the others. If the watched feeling returns, do exactly it tells you to do. Understand?'

Sam goldfished slightly. 'Huh?'

'I'll explain later. It is vital you obey what your instinct tell you. They're there for a reason. Do you want me to come to you or do you wish for us to send a N.E.S.T. official to pick you up?'

'No.' Sam suddenly snapped, grabbing his phone with both hands. 'No. I'll...'

Sam's head shot up and he swore for the life of him he saw Jazz standing in the parking lot staring at him. The mecha waved before he popped out of existence. Ravage, however, popped right out of the ground like a scene in a bad horror flick and took over staring at him from where Jazz had left off.

'Never mind, I've changed my mind. Have someone pick me up. Soon!'

* * *

**Notes:**

If you've read the ROTF pre and post movie graphic novels, you may understand why I used Ptah. Ptah is an Egyptian God who... Well, I can't tell you that, can I? Might give the story line away **Winks**


	5. Splain'n

**Notes:**

'Speaking_', 'Thought', //Spook Speak//, _**Cybertronian**

* * *

_Chapter 5 - 'Splain''n_

Sam had never been so happy to see Ironhide in his life. Will Lennox hopped out of the Topkick first then grabbed Sam's bags, easily tossing them over his shoulder as the boy jumped down from his perch. The bunker was dark, save for a few lights that led back towards the human side of the complex. 'Bee was already there, playing a few bars of 'I'm so lonely' as sung by Kim Jong-il in 'Team America' as he walked over to meet his human charge. 'Bee easily crouched and Sam hugged the bot as the Autobot picked him up.

'School been kind to you?' he asked.

'I wish' Sam answered.

Optimus could be heard walking back up from whatever meeting he had overseen in one of the far hangers, the Leader's presence felt more than seen before he finally appeared at the tunnel entrance. 'Hello Sam' he said. 'Good to see you again.'

Sam smiled softly, feeling a touch awkward. 'Hey Optimus.'

'Genesis said you were having problems but didn't elude exactly to what. Just that it was -' He looked at 'Bee who shrugged. '-Unusual and needed our immediate attention. And it was urgent.'

Truth was, Genesis had been quite adamant that something was up when she spoke to Optimus. The normally calm femme had paced the whole time she waited for Optimus' reply and 'Bee had to fight to keep her from slipping into a feral snarl. The fact that something was screwing up Sam's personal life a second time was incredibly suspicious to her, to the point where she had refused to join the humans in the mess hall, one of her favourite hang outs.

But there were other forces involved, ones that the others could not begin to comprehend and whatever they were, they were bothering Genesis immensely.

The others followed Optimus to the meeting room, where Genesis was already seated. She seemed to be deep in thought and didn't move when her mate came to settle beside her. Sam was allowed to take a seat on one of the raised platforms used for Meetings, and was quickly followed by Will when Ironhide placed the human down, complete with Sam's luggage.

'Bee was already gently teasing his mate, poking her out of her thoughts and was answered with a half hearted and annoyed swat. He muttered something to her, which caused her to reach up and nip his neck cables with her jaws. They opened like a vampire's out of the second Blade movie but rather than drawing energon, they hung on tight. 'Bee seemed to linger in the sensation and promptly dragged her into his lap when she broke her grip. With a despondent sigh Genesis let 'Bee hold her.

'Sam,' Optimus began. 'It's best to explain what's happened to you.'

Everyone sat silently as the human boy explained his situation. He blushed when he was done, afraid the others would deem him nuttier than he already felt. Will's face was held firm as he digested Sam's details, as if he, himself, wasn't surprised Sam was experiencing the things he was. Considering that that the prime had been resurrected , nothing seemed strange - or impossible - any more.

Optimus turned to the lone femme, his blue eyes studying the way 'Bee held his mate possessively.

'Genesis?'

'**Bloody Unicron and demon infested planet, that's what's happening to him.**' Genesis abruptly snarled in Cybertronian. The force of her words made even Optimus draw back and with a sigh the femme stood. 'I apologize, Optimus. The Fallen opened more than several, as the humans say, 'can of worms' when he crossed from his plain to this one.' The femme lowered her head. 'Which is why you found me.'

Sam stood. 'Huh?'

'I believe there's much explaining on my part before you understand Sam's... Issues. I can say, for now, that Sam, everything you have experienced has been real.'

Optimus crossed his arms, scowling at the femme. 'Bee rose, exchanging looks between the two humans and his leader. 'I'm as lost as you are' he said quietly when Sam gave the Autobot a questioning glance.

'Call the others.' Genesis said. 'I'm afraid the Fallen may be the least of our problems.'

* * *

The gathered mass of humans resembled an ant hill as everyone took their seats in the meeting room. The Autobots lined the back wall and Optimus, with Sam in hand, stood beside one of the mobile catwalks discussing something intense with Will. Genesis watched both the physical realm and the ghost mingle. Human ghosts lined the back wall, some of them still looking as they did when they fell in battle, one of which she recognized as Fig. Even the two security mecha Jazz harped about were there. She immediately recognized Jazz among the buzz of mecha and abruptly understood why he had disappeared for so long when Sam had called.

Jazz was currently leaning over Ironhide, hand gently stroking the Topkicks' chin, whispering something over the old warrior's head. Genesis smiled slightly, not fully realizing how close the two had been in real life. Ironhide was lost in his own thoughts, probably spurned by feeling Jazz's presence so close to his. Jazz's hand slid down the front of the Topkick's chassis and the older Autobot's eyes dropped. The Solstice did something there to cause the Topkick to grunt and rise sharply and Jazz laughed. The older Autobot was oblivious to the other mech's presence yet there seemed to be an aspect of himself that recognized his companion was still there. Jazz quickly scuttled out of the way when the Topkick headed towards the front of the room. Genesis furrowed her 'brows' at the revelation. Jazz had never conceded he and Ironhide had been lovers. The fact he was still around the Topkick was probably why Ironhide hadn't succumbed to the severed link bonded mates had when one died.

Optimus turned to the throng of bodies and made a sound similar to a human clearing their throat. Immediately the crowd had his attention, and every eye in the room was on the Autobot commander.

Genesis was deep in her own thoughts as Optimus explained the situation to everyone. Her own history was complex and there were things that, despite the horror she knew the others had experienced, the others would never understand. She eyed 'Bee over her shoulder and her mate caught her glance, blinking, then nodding as they locked eyes. She hoped 'Bee could forgive her for things she couldn't tell him. There were far too many things about Earth, and consequently Cybertron's past they would never understand.

Optimus turned to the femme and motioned for her to take her spot beside him. Genesis move foreword, clutching her elbows as she crossed her arms across her frame. She had been among the humans for far too long to give up the gesture now.

'Most of you are already aware of Cybertron's long presence here on earth. You're already aware of the Primes and that the Matrix resurrected Optimus.' she said.

Muttering came from the humans, many of them positive considering the efforts gone to save the Autobot Commander. Sideswipe's stare on the femme was hard, but even he gave her an approving nod.

Genesis sighed, then activated a hologram switch on the side of her head. The effects immediately had the humans in the first few rows scrambling as the image a giant Sauropod walked towards them.

'But that's only part of the story.'

'The All Spark was important to Cybertron, but before the Primes and before the Cube there was Primus. I ...' She sighed, bringing the image of the Sauropod to one of the blackness of space. ' I ask the humans to expand their imagination on this as current societies a limited understanding of other worlds.'

'The cube was created by who I can only call the One.. The All Father. The...' She scowled, closing her eyes tight. 'The _creator_. He came from another plain and wanted to imprint his existence here. Thus the Cube. From the Cube came the Primes. The Primes created gates to cross from this world to the other and in order to stay on this plain they needed physical bodies.' Genesis sighed, looking truly sad. 'Until the Cube could create a body, I would carry their astral in a physical body. I was their 'mule'.' She switched the hologram from the field of darkness to that of the first Primes as she remembered them on the astral. Sam immediately recognized them and stood, pointing.

'That's what I saw!' he hollered, running towards Optimus. 'But there were others!' He turned to Genesis, 'But what does any of this have have to do with me?'

Genesis clicked the image of the Primes to that of the Fallen. She ignored the growls from those who had fought against the Prime. Her images continued, showing more of Cybertron's distant history. She showed the older levels of Cybertron that Optimus had helped clear before he and his brother, Megatron, had gone to war.

'The Fallen still exists in the original plain. He just doesn't have a physical body and there is no longer a method for him to cross. He still plots against his brothers, to destroy them.' She turned to Optimus. 'And you, as you carry the mark of the Primes.'

'You didn't answer my question!' Sam shouted. 'What does he have to do with me? If he can't get to us, why worry?'

'But he can, Sam. He's gathering his army.'

That caused the whole room to break into chaos. Confusion reined supreme as every human in the room rose to shout at her. Even the Autobots were on Alert. Optimus shouted across the noise banging the side of the wall to gain control of the situation.

'Let her finish!' he said, catching the others' attention. Immediately the noise decreased in volume and the humans returned to their seats.

'The reason my type of Troth... Err... '_Pretender_' exists is because I was sent to earth to research alternate forms the Primes could utilize.' Again the hologram image switched to the dinosaurs and other organic life forms. One by one she showed how she had scanned their forms. 'When other forms were deemed unsuitable, I was relegated to bearing the Primes.'

Genesis nodded, shutting off her Hologram. She stared at the floor as if she was ashamed.

'The Fallen has angered many on both sides of the divide. That's why I was left to help defend the Tomb of Kings.'

'How can he gather an army if he can't cross over?' one member of N.E.S.T yelled angerly.

'There are creatures where we come from that can cross over. You have seen themselves, only you call them...' She squinted, trying to find the human words for them. Failing, she said it in Cybertronian. 'There are '**Ka'**. An invisible thing that needs a vessel in order to survive here. Every creature has one. When the body died the **Ka** leaves.'

Epps was up in an instant. 'You mean we're dealing with _ghosts_?'

'Bee was just staring at his mate, equally shocked as Ratchet. 'You mean you're carrying one of the _Primes_?' the camero and the HMO shouted in unison.

* * *

Dum Dum DUM! _PLOT TWIST!_


	6. Confrontations and Dinosaurs

**Notes: **

Nothing beyond the usual. :)

'Speech', '_thought_', //_Spook Speak_//, **Cybertronian**

* * *

_Chapter 6 - Confrontations and Dinosaurs_

Genesis couldn't get away from the masses fast enough after the meeting. When 'Bee had grabbed her arm and dragged her away from everyone's piercing glances, she had eagerly taken his arm and let him drag her back to med bay with Ratchet in tow.

Ratchet damn near pinned her to the wall when they walked through the door, anger barely hidden in his voice.

'Why didn't you tell us?' he hissed, his voice almost a growl. 'And we let you out in the mornings!' A pause. 'Who is it?'

Genesis was wide eyed with alarm. 'I wasn't allowed to tell you!'

'Then why now?' Ratchet said, his voice getting colder.

'Change of circumstances.' Genesis said, her voice flat as she became defensive against the medic's attitude. She shoved Ratchet out of the way and made her way to 'Bee's side. Even 'Bee was clearly annoyed with her.

'If the Decepticons find out!' 'Bee said to her. 'A Prime! A PRIME, Gen'! How could you keep that from us?'

'You think I'm stupid enough to tell them?' she hissed back at her mate. 'Well hello, Mr Starscream sir! I'm carrying the spark of the Fallen's enemies within me! Wanna take a swipe and see if he dies? DUH! I may be a few shorts of a dead processor, but I'm not that stupid. '

'Quit being so obtuse!' 'Bee snapped back sharply and he poked his mate in the chest severla times. His arms then crossed against his chest as he pouted. 'You don't keep things from them for long, especially when it comes to power.'

'Who is itthat you're carrying?' Ratchet hissed more firmly, his bed side manner rising fiercely to the surface. 'I'm sure Optimus will need to know as you left that_ little detail out._'

Genesis looked to the side, avoiding the medic's stern gaze.

'I only know him by his Egyptian name. **Anpu**. He is -' She scowled, shaking her head out of frustration. She formed his set of hieroglyphs with her hologram imager. 'Damn this. I can't translate the language of the Primes into what you would class as Modern Cybertronian! Or english. Or any of the other multitude of damnable human languages out there except what I learned as a -!' She formed fists, conking herself in the head lightly with them. 'Bee pulled her in for an embrace and she leaned against her mate , gently tapped her head against his shoulder. ' Never mind,' she sighed. 'I was meant to be with the organics alone, not among their societies.'

She gently lay a hand over her chest, feeling the pulse of Anpu's spark hum. She shook her head, knowing he was in slumber, at least until she could find her quarry.

She looked up to see Optimus standing in the med bay's door, silently watching her. The spark within her flickered slightly in recognition and she didn't resist the smile that came to her face. Sam was there at the Leader's feet, followed by Mikaela and Epps. The ghost of Fig sat in the hallway.

''Bee is right.' Genesis said finally. 'The Decepticons will find out about Anpu eventually.'

'Then we need to protect you even further than we have already,' Optimus said. 'I understand your need for the sun, but I insist you stay closer to base.' He motioned to Ratchet. 'We can help you find an alternative source of energon to help you recharge .'

Genesis sighed, knowing her proverbial wings were clipped because of her admission. She hated it, but the Autobot Commander's words were true. 'I wish it was that easy, Optimus, but I need the sun. I've been underground for so long-'

Ratchet motioned for her to come foreword as he ran another battery of tests over her. 'It's to help sustain my organic aspects,' she continued. 'However, I will accept anything that can be offered to make it easier on everyone.'

'Speaking of which-' Lennox said slowly. 'None of us have ever seen your organic alt mode. You showed us dinosaurs during the presentation. Were you ever one of them?'

Sam blinked, stunned. 'Seriously? You saw Dinosaurs? Like T-rex?'

'I thought Transfomers had only been on earth for thousands of years.' Lennonx said, not letting the boy continue.

'True,' Genesis said, nodding her head. She ran a hand down 'Bee's chassis, then lay a hand across his chest to feel his Spark pulsing. The Autobot's annoyance lifted and he seemed to purr under her attention. 'Remember I was only a 'Mule' when humans were around. I served the Primes before their time on Cybertron and as such I had multiple positions under their care.'

Mikaela scowled. 'Such as?'

'Shaman. And in the case of earth, yes. I saw dinosaurs. The Primes saw them as potential forms because of your sun.'

The humans looked suitably impressed.

'There were others with me.' She snorted as she remembered her past. 'Ironhide would have liked Grimlock. Or at least Snarl.'

Mikaela cocked her head, listening intently. Sam, rubbing his head as if trying to sort out the facts being fed him, stuttered several times before speaking. 'Why haven't we seen you with the organic mode?'

Genesis shook her head. 'It takes days for me to form a proper organic shell, but my nanites can mimic organic materials until the shell is needed.' She shrugged. 'It's been a while since I've needed to mimic anything that big.' She smirked while an edge of light ran over her frame as she switched alt modes. The she transformed. Instead of the Suzuki Aerio stood the largest looking robotic dinosaur they had ever seen. It was clear she had been predatory and the specimen feathered as her body mimicked the curves of feathers, including the spikes going down her neck and tail. She cocked her head, raising her crest and transformed. 'I can also scan multiple forms, but that one is my favourite. Unfortunately I can only hold one form once at a time. I'm not a true multi.. Several framed...alt moded... Ugh! **Fragging languages**!'

'You're not a triple changer.' Ratchet provided, inspecting the scans' results.

'Thank you.'

'Bee inspected his mate, studying the new aspects of her form such as the tail that hung low over her legs and the spines adorning the top of her head. Her plating was rigid, showing that she was fast in the new form for the species she mimicked, but not overpoweringly so as an individual . She was plain and blatantly constructed for battle from the reinforced 'ribs' that made up her chest to the blades hidden under her forearm armour. It made 'Bee wonder why she had to be so well protected. No one had ever seen her get violent so it could be the Primes had her come through as protected as possible in case she needed to defend herself. She looked much like a Decepticon gone feral yet possessed none of their negative traits unless provoked. 'Bee reached out to run his fingers over the surface of her tail and was firmly swatted when he became too nosey.

'Sorry Genesis.'

'I'll punish you for that later' She said, her faceplates breaking into a suggestive smirk. Bumblebee immediately understood the implications and felt his spark warm with anticipation.

'Can you stay like that when you leave the base?' Optimus asked. 'It seems you're better defended in that form than your vehicle mode.'

Genesis sighed, then nodded. 'I'll keep the wheel item filed in case I need a faster get away.'

'Now it's a matter of avoiding Decepticons.' Ratchet said, putting his scanner away. 'They keep cropping up where we least expect it. When Starscream disappeared, the others fled as well.'

'And it seems Barricade finally escaped his tomb,' Optimus said, remembering the trap that had been set up against him before the Decepticon had been literally buried under ground with the cap to his cave melted shut.

Genesis was quiet for several seconds before she spoke, her voice shaking. 'There's a problem with that, Optimus. ' The Autobot Commander gave her an inquisitive expression.

'Why?'

'... Anpu needs a Decepticon in which to imprint his new form.'

Ratchet lay his head in his hands, groaning. 'Do we want to know who and the reasons?'

'It may help. You may already know his intended host. His name is Barricade.'

'Bee flung his hands into the air. 'We're doomed.'

* * *

**Notes: **

_SPOILER ALERT_ if you've not read any of the Live Action Novels!

Ever wonder why Barricade suddenly went missing and never showed up during the second movie? In the pre ROTF novel 'The Veiled Threat', the Human Alliance cornered Optimus and Optimus got caught underground with Barricade. Big fight, lots of explosions. Good read. Optimus ended up sealing the Decepticon underground and during (or at least near) the ROTF fiasco Barricade is literally digging his way to freedom. So yes, he _does_ survive the first movie. He just has a good reason for being absent for the second. :)


	7. Jinn and Justice

**Notes:**

Oh, reading up on people's personal ghost stories can be so much _FUN_! And my poor characters have to suffer the consequences. MUAHAHAHAHAAA!

_Barricade:_ 'Slagger.' :(

VC: 'Come now. Y'think I'd let them kill you?'

Oh, and as a reminder:

'talking', '_thought_', _//spook speak//_, **Cybertronian**

* * *

_Chapter 7 - Jinn and Justice_

Barricade was _not_ happy. He swung out at his unseen attacker, energon knife humming softly as he wiggled it softly between his finger servos. He couldn't see his attacker but he could _feel_ it, the thing a constant giggle in his audios.

'FACE ME!' he bellowed for his umpteenth time, the Decepticon taking another swipe as the presence flew by him again. The thing had been harassing him constantly for several earth solar cycles and having had finally had enough of the constant stalking, he had snapped.

Bad move on his part. Bad enough that it had taken him months to dig his way out of the pit Optimus had melted over him. Bad enough that he had heard about Megatron's resurrection and the arrival of the fallen, but now there were these _things_ harassing him day and night.

//_Feed us!_// the eerie voice chanted, its proximity to the Decepticon sending chills down his back struts. The sensation became even more pronounced as he felt it approach him yet _again_. Barricade could feel a twinge of fear creep up in his spark. The thing snickered and squealed at him as it flew by. He knew he had hit home when it fell back with an annoyed screech.

//_Life! LIFE! Feed US!_//

'Bloody slag I will!' he snarled. 'What do you want _creature_?'

//_Life! LIFE!_//

'How many times must I say this? OVER MY DEACTIVATED FORM!'

Other voices were heard approaching him through the forest, their large forms crashing through the brush. It was a freaky sight seeing things move on one level yet his scans kept telling him nothing was there. Shadows could be seen in the corner of his optics, climbing over the trunks of trees and parting the grass as they crawled out of the ground. He couldn't really tell what they were except they reminded him of some bad human horror flick where zombies went after the hapless victims. Only these were much _much_ more realistic. He scanned the direction the new presences came from out of habit and once again his scanners told him there was nothing there. He swore he was going out of his processor. But they were there. He could hear them, see them on some level and the smell of decomposing energon filled is olfactory sensors. He howled, surprised, as one of the creatures swung past him and he could feel instant agony as his armour was scraped, leaving deep rents. Energon pooled on the surface of the ragged wounds, which drove more of the creatures towards him, squealing as if his energon was the whole reason they existed. Others went for his face and he swore he could feel his chassis being pulled apart as if being sucked off like scum on top of an energon cube. It left his frame feeling as if his internal workings were hanging from the ragged wounds.

He swung his knife again, meeting nothing. He was shoved sharply, and he brandished his knife in the attacker's direction, only to have something knock it out of his hand. In an instant he was piled upon, more rents appearing over his frame. The harder he fought back, the harder they kept him pinned. Something went for his optics and immediately he was blinded, followed by sensations of something trying to dig them out. They bickered over who had the honour of doing the deed, the weight of the creatures squealing over his face nauseating. Energon ran down his face plates. He couldn't contain the overwhelming feeling of panic being forced on him and for the first time in a long time he started screaming out of sheer terror.

Then there was another force that, with a shout, started hacking at the creatures piling him. He could feel them flee, screeching and swearing in protest. Barricade attempted to rise, using a tree to prop himself up. The feeling of terror still lingered in the air but he could feel himself return to himself. Angered, he meekly sought his energon with a pede, then stooped to pick it up once he found it. The sound of battle was heard in the distance as the creatures fled. Every so often an agonized screech filled the air followed by a peeved 'get your sorry, ugly afts out of here!' before he was finally left alone. Well, almost. Eventually he could sense there was another presence beside him, radiating grumpy aggression. When he scanned for the presences form there was a moment where he thought he read Decepticon energy signals, but it was gone before he could confirm it.

//_**Sorry it took so long to get to you,**_// the voice said. //_**Took us a while to find you. You're too good at your job, Barricade.**_//

'_That's a unique complaint_.' the Decepticon thought. He settled back onto his haunches, already feeling weak. Allowing his repair systems to start their work, he sat back with a sigh. He shouldn't have felt this tired, not with the experience he had at hand to hand combat and how little actual fighting he had done.

Barricade blinked, feeling his chin pulled up so the presence could inspect his eyes. There was gentle poking before the accented voice spoke again. //_**How many times have I told you youngsters to never to provoke those damnable Jinn? I would have thought Megatron taught you better than that when he sent you here.**_//

'**Who?**' Barricade snapped back in Cybertronian, trying to shove the new presence's hands away. His grip met nothing, but he could feel the being swat his hands with annoyance. **'What the slag are you talking about?**' He was going crazy. He was talking to voices in his head.

//_**Quit your squirming and let me finish.**__**Primus. You would think they taught you something in the Decepticon academies.**_// More poking and Barricade flinched when his eyesight returned. He snarled at the pain as energon was wiped off his now functioning optic and the piece reinserted into his head. It popped in with a dull click, sending a sharp, shooting agony racing through the dark Mustang's skull.

//_**That should do it.**_// A pause. Then a sudden and powerful shock as Barricade got firmly and utterly trounced across the face. He clutched his head, reeling from the single strike and would have pounded the presence back had he been able to see it.

//_**Do you idiots EVERY pay attention to what the humans tell you?//**_ the voice said.__// _**NEVER insult Jinn. NEVER! **_// The presence got up, leaving the Decepticon to nurse his newly dented face. The presence charged up to Barricade again, causing the Decepticon to leap to his feel in full battle readiness. The motions of the presence shaking its fist was clear as daylight in__his mind. //IDIOTS!// It yelled in a British accent. Then the form materialized inches away from the Decepticon's face.

Barricade's eyes widened as he realized who the voice was.

'**Gr.. Grandsire?**' Bloody pit. He _had_ fried his motherboard.

//**About time you recognize family!**// Jetfire snorted. //**Now get up off your aft before I'm forced to carry you. We need to talk.**//

* * *

**Notes:**

**Jinn: **Jinn (Plural) or Jinnee (Singular) are Arabic version of fae. According to _._, Jinn are:

'...fairies in Arabian mythology, the offspring of fire. They reproduce like human beings, and are lead by a race of kings named Suleyman, one of whom, they say, built the pyramids. Their chief abode is the mountain Kâf, and they appear to men under the forms of serpents, dogs, cats, monsters, or even human beings, and become invisible at will. The evil jinn are hideously ugly, but the good are exquisitely beautiful. According to legend, they were created from fire two thousand years before Adam was made of earth. '


	8. The Reasons for Being

**Notes:**

Slashy Slashy Goodness in this chapter. You've been warned.

* * *

_Chapter 8 - The Reasons for Being_

It was the third time that day. Genesis was beside 'Bee in their quarters, everyone done their work for the cycle save for the few rouge N.E.S.T. representatives heard walking down the hallways. It was a waiting game to see where Decepticon activity would lead everybody next. As a result everyone had retired to their quarters for some rest and private contemplation. It also gave Genesis a chance to speak to her mate, Optimus, Mikaela and Sam about exactly why Sam kept seeing the things he did.

Unfortunately the noise from Ironhide's quarters was driving her mad and making it damn near impossible for her to think. The Topkick had locked himself in his quarters and according to Mikaela and Sam, was in deep recharge save for the occasional snore.

Genesis knew better and was glad Sam couldn't hear the source of her current processor ache.

Jazz broke into loud, singing cries as he overloaded yet _again_, followed by Ironhide's yowl on the spirit plain. There was a squeal as metal on metal grounded into each other in the pair's last throws of passion. It was followed by a crunching squeal and Jazz groaning even louder before silence reined. She would have thumped on the door of the pair's quarters but it would have just confused the Topkick when she woke him. It didn't help that she could feel residual emotions rise from the pair's direction that quickly sang into peals of ecstacy. No wonder Ironhide had been so tired the last time they had spoken. Jazz wasn't letting him recharge at all today!

'Gen'?' Sam's voice drew her out of her frustration. 'Bee looked up at her as he lounged on his mate's sun lamp berth, holographic game pieces held in his hands. He motioned towards the young humans with his head.

'You were describing what might be the cause of my visions?' Sam continued.

'Ah... Yes.' Gen said. She scowled as she felt Jazz's emotional signature rise for a fourth time. Mentally, she rolled her eyes. Optimus, who was in on the game between shifts, eyed his game pieces, shuffling them, deciding which of his moves would win him the most points. Sam rose to place his piece into place and 'Bee threw his pieces into the air, defeat in his tone.

'I'm out' the Camero said.

Sam smirked, proud of himself for finally mastering the Cybertronian, multiplayer, three tiered equivalent of chess.

'It seems the Primes sent individuals to protect you.' Genesis continued, placing her piece into play. She rolled her eyes when Optimus blocked her move. 'As outlandish as it sounds, Jazz and Ravage may be the reason why you're still here.'

'I couldn't see them before. Why now? And.. Jazz looks like he did before Megatron Killed him.'

Genesis furrowed her brows as she sought the words she had used to explain the ability to the young Pharaohs blessed with the gift - or curse - of seeing wraiths.

'You don't choose to be a seer. You just are one. Once pegged for service to the Creator, there is no escaping the role.' A pause as she placed her piece into play, making Optimus grunt. She had cut off his warrior rook's progress. 'Check mate, I'm on level three!' she smirked.

'And Jazz?'

'Probably because he has come to terms about his death and wants to spare you the sight of him wriggling on the floor.'

On cue, a hologram of the Solstice as Genesis had first seen him was projected on the game board, the silver mech in two pieces. Jazz's upper half was on the ground. He was covered in dust and energon and he waved at the human. Jazz's legs kicked him when he started making faces at Optimus. The Autobot commander was leaned over a badly beaten and bloodied Sam as they spoke, the pyramids and a much annoyed Ravage seen in the distance. The cat mimic held his spine in his mouth. Startled, Sam jumped, but the Solstice had already returned to his healed state in a blink. Genesis flicked her hologram projector off.

'You said you're chosen.' Mikaela said, oblivious to Sam's alarmed startle. She waited for the red and black femme to place her second piece.

'Fate does it. Or destiny. ' Genesis said. 'They're weavers of time, space and dimension. They shape the form of everything into existence. The Greeks called them the Fates. Nice bunch, though a bit strange.'

'Isn't that fantasy? I mean it's hard enough believing in ghosts.' Sam said. He grimaced as Mikaela took out his King (or Prime, as Optimus called it).

On cue Jazz broke out into another wailing scream, this time calling out Ironhide's name as if his spark depended on it. He announced his final overload with a rhythmic shriek that would have made N.E.S.T.'s tracking dogs howl had they heard it. Genesis snarled.

'That's _it_!' she said. 'Apologies everyone. I'll be right back.' She stomped to the closed doors of the unit she and 'Bee shared and forcibly shoved them open.

'**Would you two SHUT UP! I'm **_**trying to have a CONVERSATION!**_** ' **She yelled into the hall.** 'I can't hear myself process while you two dent plating!'** Humans passing by stared at her with dazed confusion.

A pause filled with squealing metal as the pair untangled themselves answered her.

'**Sorry Gen!**' Jazz yelled back, his voice sheepish. Ironhide's spirit could be heard laughing hysterically. He was quickly reprimanded and swatted by his invisible mate.

'**Primus on a pogo stick**' Genesis said, closing the quarters' doors behind her with an angry click.

Three horrified faces greeted her from around the game board.

'What was that for?' Sam asked. Everyone was staring at her with questioning stares. 'Bee was staring at her as if she had finally gone mad. He was playing the song 'Crazy' over their private comm frequency.

'You see and hear things that others miss, correct Sam?'

Sam simply nodded.

'Did you catch any of that in the hall?'

He silently shook his head 'no', mouth grasping for words. Genesis grunted. He was still too inexperienced to notice distant noises.

'Be glad you didn't, because we would be both pinning the fraggers down and letting Optimus pummel their reputation with his wit.'

'Bee and Sam shared a confused stare as Genesis returned to her seat. Optimus withheld a chuckle and placed a game piece.

'Where were we?' Genesis asked, placing her hands, now holding her game pieces, in her lap.

'Ghosts,' Mikaela said helpfully.

Genesis nodded. She proceeded to go into detail about what she thought was happening to Sam. She started with the dead. When it came to the Primes, it always stared with the dead. With the Primes, death of their body on this side of their dimensional gates meant they were forced to travel back to where the All Spark was shaped. Once their physical body died, they could not stay on this plain unless their sarcophagus, which acted as a gate, was left open. Even then they were limited to only speaking across the veil. They could also die in their personal, pocket dimensions but it was easier to defend themselves there. Their sparks could stay on this side of the divide but without a host or 'vessel' to place their sparks into, they quickly perished. The exception were those who were created and lost their physical vessels here: the Seekers and their ilk. This allowed the Primes to work indirectly on this plain until the All Spark could reabsorb their workers' sparks or their workers could return directly to Primus himself.

But now, with no body to return to and the All Spark gone, those who had served the Primes and died were left stranded. Those who had chosen to remain with comrades had no place to go, which was why Jazz still lingered among his friends.

'Jazz seems to enjoy following you.'

Sam's head shot up at Jazz's name.

'So I am seeing him!' he said, shifting his position excitedly.

'And the All Father. And Ravage.' Genesis added. 'Ravage, too, has -mostly- come to terms with his death. He seeks his symbiote master and can't find him.'

'But doesn't Ravage hate me? He's a Decepticon! Every time I've seen him he's been helping.' The human goldfished while he thought. 'The... All... Father? Who is he?' Sam continued, watching as Optimus killed off the second of Mikaela's thirteen warrior pieces.

'Check mate, ' the Autobot Commander said with a grin, causing Mikaela groan with defeat.

Genesis closed her eyes as she tried to remember an old proverb from the time of the Primes.

'**The weight of the land makes the Mind forget.**

**Where war was waged and energon spilled**

**The obsolete are received by those leaving old vessels**

**And the mind once again remembers old habits**

**Fear is forgotten**

**Fury quelled**

**and the life's essences accepted back**

**by those who seek the abandoned.'**

She translated the lines to Sam and Mikaela as best as she could.

'It means that the individual forgets things once known on one side of the gate. When they return back to their home world, or the vessel is extinguished, the spark, or their **Ka,** remembers why they served the Primes in the first place.'

'So Ravage really doesn't want to hurt me?' Sam said quietly.

'He might not like you, but he sees a greater threat to not protecting you than those fed by his own ego.'

'And Jazz?'

'There's no All Spark to return him home.' Genesis paused, thinking the situation over. 'No. He doesn't _recognize_ the gate he could go home by and needs help getting there. Or he may have found it, but refuses to leave. I will have to ask him the next time we speak.'

Sam almost dropped his pieces and scrambled to keep them in his hand.

'You _talk_ to them?' he squeaked. Mikaela was torn between helping her friend pick up his pieces and staring at the red and black femme with shock.

'I've been around since the first Seven were created. Of course I speak to them.'

'And the face?' Sam muttered, placing one of his pieces beside Optimus'. The Autobot commander laughed when the piece chimed and essentially deleted his last and most powerful King.

'Nice move.' the Autobot commander chuckled, placing his remaining pieces to the side. 'I'm out. Only Megatron could effectively pull something like that on me.'

'Thanks.' Sam said, bashful.

Genesis snorted, equally amused by the boy's action. 'Even Cybertron has its Gods.' she continued.

'I saw a _GOD_?' Sam squeaked a second time.

'Comes out of nowhere, has strange conversations with you and looks like a friendly version of Megatron, but similar to The Fallen? Has a bit of an attitude but an unusual Gold colour? Stares at you, smiling, as if he's got something up his servers? Loves weaponry and things that go 'boom'?'

'Not quite.'

'Like Barricade? Thinner chin plating? Same spikes? Looks like it could be a femme if you squinted? Rarely says anything and stares at you but has no malice to the stare?'

The looks the human and the femme were receiving were starting to resemble a tennis game as the observer's stares bounced from one speaker to the other. 'Bee's expression was of dismay, his chin plate sagging slightly. Optimus' was inquisitive, as if it was an entertaining topic he heard everyday. Mikaela's jaw still needed to be picked off the floor.

'The last one. That's him.' Sam said. He didn't believing he was having the conversation himself.

'Primus himself. He likes to check on his creations now and again.'

'Why not the other one?' Sam said, placing his second piece. Genesis quickly blocked it, who's move was then thrashed by Mikaela's herd of Warrior chips still in play. The femme tossed her pieces to the side, officially out of the game.

'That would be Har-nedj-itef. **Hor**. I believe he is known as Horus in English. You'll know him as he looks much like the Fallen but Gold.'

'What do I do if I meet him?'

'Treat him like the peacock he is and tell him he's got a great reflection. His frame is similar to that of The Fallen's.'

//_And better looking!_// Jazz said as he popped through the suite doors. The door didn't even open. Jazz just suddenly popped through it, his amused smirk wide. //_Nice fellow if you can avoid him blinding you with his armour_.//


	9. Dead Serious

Notes:

'Speaking', '_thought_', //_spook speak_//, **cybertronian**

* * *

_Chapter 9 - Dead Serious_

Sam's reaction was that of instant panic and he back peddled from his spot at the Game towards 'Bee. 'Bee grabbed his friend and rose, shielding the human protectively though admittedly confused as to what to do if the unseen assailant attacked. The yellow 'Bot looked flabbergasted, but the expression he held said he wasn't going to let anyone harm his human charge, come hell or Decepticons and knowing Earth, it was most likely to the the former.

'I-I-I-I'm NOT CRAZY!' Sam said, pointing towards the dead mech. He stared at 'Bee. 'I heard him this time!' His squeal became louder when Fig appeared beside the mecha, his body still covered in blood from his fatal wounds. 'You! ...you died! Will showed me a pic of you in Kandahar!'

Genesis hid a smirk and waved Optimus down when he, too, rose at Sam's alarmed shrieking. ' This is normal.' she said softly.

'How is this-' He motioned towards the quivering Sam. '-Normal?' The Autobot commander stared at the empty space Sam was desperately trying to avoid. 'I admit it is disturbing knowing I can't help protect Sam from something I can't fight.'

'Not everyone was meant to see them,' Genesis said, a sigh breaking from her. 'Just as not all created by the All Spark were meant to be warriors or scientists. It seems Sam is a special case, as he's human and humans...' The femme struggled for the right words in english. 'Humans are not as rigid in the roles Fate has given them. If Primus wants someone to see a **Ka**, they will see a **Ka**.'

'Bee cautiously settled himself next to the game. It was hard to interpret who was more reluctant- Sam of letting go of the Autobot or 'Bee of letting go of the human. 'Bee stared hard at the empty space and emitted a low, grumbling growl that said he wasn't going to back down if whatever was there hurt his charge.

Mikaela looked up at Genesis, gently running her fingers over the edges of her holographic game pieces in absent minded nervousness. The images would flicker slightly, showing internal structures before returning their photo-realistic shape.

//_Tell the Golden Wonder to back down! I'm not going to bite._// Jazz said with a laugh. Fig snorted and wandered in with crutches under each arm.

''Bee. The **Silver Bullet**'s telling you to lay off.' Genesis nodded towards Jazz's Ghost. 'Bee's eyes widened, recognizing the nick names he and Jazz had given each other shortly before 'Bee's search for the All Spark. He lowered his hand, as if given the orders by Optimus himself. He let Sam hop out of his clutches.

'Who -?' Mikaela said, brushing her hair out of her face. She frowned, the expression sharpening her features into a dark expression of confusion. Then her eyes suddenly shot wide. 'Jazz!' She turned to her friend. 'It's Jazz isn't it?'

Sam nodded. 'And one of Will's friends. One of the ones who died in the desert.'

Optimus cocked his head. 'Fig?'

Sam nodded wildly.

'What do I do?' he said, staring up as Jazz walked by and took a seat behind Optimus. The Solstice started making faces behind his commander's back, causing Sam to immediately drop his fear. He lowered his head in an effort to hide his snickering . Instead he emitted a choked sniffling, which caused the Autobot commander to eye the human with a raised metallic eyebrow. Jazz proceeded to make 'talking' motions with his servos, copying the large commander as he spoke.

'Are you alright, Sam Witwicky? Will you need a medic?'

Sam cleared his throat, swallowing his laughter. 'No. It's okay Optimus.'

Fig wandered over to the Solstice and gave him a firm thump on the leg with a crutch. Jazz jumped back.

_//Hey! That's not cool, man! You might've scratched my paint!//_

_//Deal with it, stud muffin. Scratched pain is the worst you'll have to deal with if we don't finish this conversation.//_

Genesis coughed politely and motioned back to Sam. //_Sorry, Gen._// Jazz said, and stepped back._ //I know. Business. //_

'I don't get it, Gen.' Sam said, placing his game pieces to the side. 'If The Fallen is dead and stuck on his dimension, why worry if he's gathering an army? Call in some ghost busters and clean him out.'

'If you conceived he was scary when his vessel lived, he's even more powerful on his own plain. And he knows how to manipulate this Planet's **Ka** to his will, as much as he despises others not of his species.'

'Then have the other Primes stop him.'

'They tried. They failed. That's why I was left in their tomb. To protect the Matrix of Leadership until someone could be recruited to their cause.'

The silence that followed was deafening. Sam could hear his heart starting to pound in his ears and he coughed. It was a weak attempt at breaking the thick blanket of silence.

Genesis looked solemn and she stared at her hands. She must have said something to her mate via their private comm link as 'Bee suddenly crawled over to her and lay a hand on her thigh and rested his forehead against her shoulder. They both adopted a glazed expression that was characteristic of a data when they touched finger tips. Bumblebee ran a finger over his mate's cheek and the sad expression on her face lifted.

'Optimus. I gave Bumblebee details of what I need to do to help Sam. I will warn you - the lessons will be difficult.'

Sam's head shot up.

'Whoah whoah whoah. Waitaminnute. Slow down. Details? What are you doing to me? No one said anything about doing anything to me.'

Genesis watched as her mate and Optimus passed her data via their fingertips. The Autobot Commander scowled as he read the femmes notes, then turned to Sam.

'I fear I have no knowledge in this field of knowledge, Sam.'

'You're not going to cut my head open are you? I had that almost happen once -'

Genesis broke out in a loud laugh. 'Sweet Primus in a reed basket! _NO_, boy! I only wish to teach you how to hone your new skills!'

'Good. Because the look Optimus gave me was starting to worry me.'

Mikaela smirked behind her game pieces and was about to request a new round of the game they were playing when the bunker's alarm systems started wailing. Jazz was first to move and blinked out of existence for a moment, followed by Fig. Jazz returned, trying to get the Autobot commander's attention. Optimus was immediately on his feet, sensing the situation was urgent and thoroughly unaware that Jazz was warning him. 'Bee followed his commander out the door, leaving Genesis to gather the two humans. She eyed Jazz's dark frown. She, too, could feel something dark rippling from a distance. It was a familiar rippling who's tendrils spread out like tainted weeds seeking a root hold.

//_This isn't going to be a normal battle._// the solstice said.

Genesis grunted.

'I have to speak to **Usat**. Isis-mother will not like this.' She turned to Sam. 'And you must come with me.'

* * *

**Notes:** _Usat_, apparently, is pronounced 'Eee-sa'. Another pronunciation is 'Eee-saT'. The 'T' is a female suffix that was used in early egyptian pronunciations of the Goddess' name. Otherwise no-one really knows how Isis's Egyptian name is pronounced.


	10. Goddesses, Gods and Primes, OH MY!

'Spoken', '_Thought_', **Cybertronian**, //_spook speak_//,

_Miracles - Chapter 10 - Goddesses, Gods and Primes, OH MY!_

Genesis followed 'Bee and Optimus half way down the hall before taking a sharp turn down the escape tunnel. She held Sam and Mikaela close to her so they didn't accidently tumble out of her grip. The route was secluded in an obscurely built section of the base. It was one of those tunnels that was easy to get lost in, being constructed to confuse both human and Cybertronian attackers alike. The only way to find one's way out was to know where the right doors were and that took repetitive acts memorization. It was one large labyrinth that Optimus had insured all N.E.S.T. members remembered. Genesis could almost imaging herself being the Minotaur waiting to pounce on unsuspecting Maidens as depicted in the human myths.

She knew Bumblebee wouldn't like her ditching pre battle instructions, but her need to speak to **Usat** trumped everything. When it came to battling Primes, Gods were automatically of higher status than Commanders. Or Lovers for that matter.

She looked down at the two confused humans.

'I need the dark,' she said softly and proceeded to unscrew the small bulbs lighting the hall they stood in. 'Helps me trance faster. Helps concentration, too.' She took one nervous look over her shoulder when she was done and dipped into one of the hidden ambush rooms. The room was empty save for herself and a stack of bricks at the back, possibly stored from the last repair job after Ironhide lost his temper. Confident she wasn't being followed, Genesis placed the pair down on the concrete floor. 'Sam - You won't like this but I beg that you trust me.'

Sam swallowed hard. 'What are you going to do?' Something was screaming in the back of his head, to run, to not waste time asking questions.

'There's no time for drugs. I need to drive you into a coma.'

'WHAT?' Genesis cringed at the combined screech from both Youngsters.

'I beg that you can forgive me.' She said, cutting them off with clipped words. Her green eyes went soft. Then, with reflexes that startled both humans, Sam was hurled against the concrete and metal wall of the room. The last thing the human boy remembered as his head connected with it was Mikaela screaming.

Sam found himself staring up at clouds and sunlight. It was the same scene he remembered from back in Egypt when he had died attempting to save Optimus' life. Blinking and shielding his eyes from the source of light, he realized the sunlight was actually a humanoid form in which he couldn't quite pick out its edges. A shuffling behind him distracted him from his curiosity. He jumped back to see himself in an uncomfortable heap at Genesis' feet. Mikaela was screaming obscenities at the femme, who was politely ignoring her. Genesis, sitting on the floor cross legged, grabbed Mikaela and handed her something from her subspace pocket to stop the bleeding on Sam's head. She snapped something at the wailing female, who shut up.

Sam couldn't see anything beyond that. The atmosphere dipped into shadow and a dark presence filtered across his view. Recognizing it as the presence chasing him at school, he drew away and towards the light behind him, his instincts screaming with proverbial bells and whistles. He stumbed against something and before he fell, his arm was grabbed. Sam's heart raced with terror, mind demanding him to fight back but when he looked up he saw a very protective Genesis glaring at the presence. The presence's shadowy form flickered briefly, angered its quarry was being denied to it, and it immediately drew back and wandered off. It cleared the view of Mikaela. Sam, surprised to see a new, white shape leaning over his physical self and aiding Mikaela, gave Genesis a confused stare.

//_Everyone has a guardian, Sam. She will be protected. She will be aided. She cannot see him, but he is there. _//

Sam cocked his head, not exactly... sure what to make of his circumstances. He reeled with fury and frustration, wanting to call Optimus to pin her, to throw her in the brig, to banish her off world. Genesis looked down at him, a smile on her face. It just irritated him more, as if she was teasing him.

//_What the _HELL _did you _do_ to me?_//

//_Like I said. We are in a hurry._//

_//And I'm supposed to thank you for not killing me? This is un-!//_

Sam cut himself off. He was enraged . Furious. Seething. Mentally he screamed at the femme, but he just couldn't find the energy to tell her off with his lips. Instead, his hands wringed the edges of his pant pockets as he followed the femme. Genesis nodded her head at something that floated by. Sam lost his anger for a momment and stared. The mass, as he studied it, was actual several with the density of smoke. They moved without effort and slowly became denser as he and the femme passed them. Genesis shoved the human gently.

_//Not polite to stare.//_ she said. Sam followed the forms as they disappeared into the darkness behind them. Anger evaporated, replaced with confusion.

_//What? Who? ... Was that?//_

_//Medics. They're making sure you get the help you need when the others find us.//_

_//I think I'll take your word for it.//_

Sam was drawn towards new sounds as they walked down a change of environment. A sand, dirt and gravel path that wound its way through exotic flowers and geese greeted them, the warmth of the sun-like presence flooding everything it touched. Short, cropped lawn lined each side of the path, greener than anything Sam had ever seen. Stone chairs were filled with workers and scribes, the scribes scratching hieroglyphs onto papyrus sheets as their as mentors spoke. The place was dominated by humans and Sam would have thought it an ancient temple of sorts until he realized Transformers mingled among the Egyptian style architecture. Despite their sizes, their presence was much less noticeable, as if they were not completely allowed to be there. They spoke and watched, the earth vibrating gently as they walked past. At the end of the elaborate grove lay a woman in regal, ancient Egyptian clothes, her gold jewellery shining ethereally in the light. Her black make up enhanced her already stunning beauty. She lay across a lounging chair and a young boy in simple clothing held a palm leaf over her to shield her from the light. Jazz was beside her, tapping his foot impatiently. When the woman gently motioned for him to stop, he dropped his head, embarrassed.

_//Sorry, ma'am.//_

_//You're worried. It's understandable.// _the woman said, her voice tinted with humor.

Genesis kneeled before the woman and motioned for Sam to do the same.

_//Mother.//_

_//You may rise, Avatar.//_

Genesis nodded and kept her eyes low. She held out her hand for Sam to climb into, but Sam remained uncertain, passing his gaze from Genesis to the woman. He eyed the elaborately dressed woman and swallowed hard.

_//N..no. I would like to stand here if it's alright with you. //_

The woman chuckled and sat upright. She gave the boy holding the palm a command in a language Sam didn't recognize and the boy almost giggled with delight. He ran off with the palm after a quick bow of reverence, bare feet slapping against some stone slabs, then disappeared behind one of the large carved columns. He did not return.

The woman rose and made her way towards a garden of flowers. Geese waddled lazily out of the way, then honked with alarm when Genesis turned to follow. They immediately took to the air, leaving the femme chuckling at their panic.

//_I take it you're not here for a leisure visit, __**Avatar**__. It's the wrong time of day for that.// _the woman said, cradling a Lilly head between her fingers. _//You already know that my brother is up to trouble again. What do you need?//_

_//It's the reason I brought the human boy, mother __**Usat**__. Optimus' troops are currently readying for battle. And Sam was granted the Matrix by the Primes themselves. It reeks of The Fallen, mother. The Fallen's sending out his warriors now. Optimus will need his help, especially with the Fallen's handiwork following the boy as we speak.// _A nervous shifting of armor plating hinted at Genesis' nervousness. //_I need to teach the boy to shadow walk. Now.//_

Usat dropped the Lilly head and shot a look of surprise at Genesis.

_//Now?// _The look of beauty shifted into a look of wrath that could only come across the face of a dark goddess. As the look of unwithering kindness left and the warrior aspect of Usat rose, Sam shrinked back as her white clothes the woman had worn faltered and became the colors of a warrior clad in leathers and metal._ //I didn't expect you to bring him so soon. Perhaps it is better the time has arrived sooner than expected. Bring the boy to Apep's cave. // _Usat said. _//I'll get Djehuty. He needs to record this.//_

It wasn't long before Sam was standing beside the entrance to a large cave. The smell emanating from it was unbearable. The smell of frankincense and herbs wafted through the air in polite tones, but there was the smell of old must flesh that over took everything. Every so often something would skitter about the edges of the hole and almost make it into the light, but then it would squeal, as if the light was dangerous. It would dance down the cave with wet smacking sounds, squealing obscenities that made Genesis sigh. Sam swallowed hard.

_//Tell me again the reasons I'm doing this?//_

Genesis didn't look much braver. She eyed their companions with a nervous glance, then picked up her torch. With a thought she lit it, it's flame stretching wide and creeping into the cave. In the dark more creatures stirred, dancing out of the way of the shadow eating flame.

_//Because We're screwed if you don't.// _She handed the torch to Sam, who had to clutch the large object with both hands. Behind them Usat and Djehuty waited, Djehuty with a large roll of papyrus in his hands. The God was as bizarre as the tomb paintings of him showed. His bird-head was elegantly tipped with a curved beak, his dark eyes quiet, calm and always studying. Every motion Sam and Genesis made was scratched onto the papyrus with deliberate, articulate skill. If he had been human, he would have been a scientist or a Judge's assistant. The Goddess Usat was beside him, silently staring something down in a quiet battle of wits as it growled at her from the entrance of the cave. She showed no fear or weakness.

_//Okay. History time. A short, painful version of it. //_ Genesis began. He started down the cave. Sam had to trot fast to keep up with her. _//You're familiar with the Egyptian Gods, correct?//_

Sam grunted, trying to ignore the nausea threatening to overtake him._ //Yeah. What kid doesn't? But they're stories, right?//_

_//Every story is based on reality, Sam. Even if the history isn't a hundred percent accurate.//_

_//Huh?//_

_//I shall keep it simple considering the lack of time. The humans couldn't explain the strange species suddenly living on earth and the Fallen and his ilk easily slid into the role of Gods. Each of the Primes and those that helped them became slots in a pantheon. Whether you like it or not, Samual Witwicky, you are a cog in the continuation of this Mythos. Only now you meet the rest of the family.//_

She took a step foreword, making sure Sam could keep up . The cave was wet, murky and mummies and half decayed carcasses filled their sights as they travelled into it. Sam screamed suddenly when all the bodies moved at once to stare at the incomers. He back peddled, but Genesis reached out to hold him firmly.

_//Remember - the Egyptians honoured their dead. These guys you don't have to fear. They're awaiting judgement by __**Ma'at**__. They, however-//_ Genesis growled, pointing at the things still skulking out of the reach of the light. _//-will screw you over when they get the opportunity. They don't touch the dead because they know __**Ma'at**__ will be harsh if they break her rules. The lessons we will be teaching you will help you better defend yourself against Apep's and as a result, The Fallen's, army.//_

Sam was careful to not step on any of the resting bodies around his feet._//Ma'at. Wait... She's a name I recognize. // _He closed his eyes firmly, trying to remember the stories he had half heartedly studied after the combat in Egypt. Names came to him. Isis, Osirus. Anubis. Ra.

_//__**Ma'at**__ is the judger. // _Genesis said, careful to step over those bodies who could not walk. _//You know __**Usat**__ as Isis. Her mate is Osirus. __**Djehuty**__ you know as Thoth. //_

_//... You said the rest of the family? Ye Gods. I'm getting a headache.// Sam turned to the God and Goddess behind him, flushing . //Um... Your presences noted and , um, respected.//_ Embarassed, he wheeled to stare down the long cave path. A large chamber greeting his sights, with a large woman working on weighing something on an impressively large scale. _//This is getting weirder and weirder.// _Sam muttered.

Genesis grunted at Sam's comment. She picked him up, careful not to burn him as she took his torch and she trotted down past Ma'at.

_//Normally we make shamans do this alone. // _the red and black femme said, then placed Sam on an outcropping of the cave. Sam could see clearly now that Ma'at was weighing a heart against a feather. Weirder still was the fact the heart was lighter than the feather!

_//There's a tunnel behind you. Pass through it. I'll meet you on the other side. And if anything tries to grab you, run like hell.//_ A pause as she accessed some of her memory files. _// Normally there's seven doors to pass through, including a fight. One for each Prime. They get harder to pass through each time you progress. Trainees are not allowed aid after the sixth. Each door has a lesson. Only when they complete the challenges are you allowed to pass to the next door.// _Genesis placed a hand on the human boy's shoulder and shook it gently._ //Because this is the short version, you'll be forced to do everything at once. One prime. Three doors. You ready?//_

_//No.//_

_//Good.// _And Genesis gently shoved him towards the tunnel behind him.


	11. A History of Time

'Spoken', '_Thought_', **Cybertronian**, /_spook speak_/,

_Miracles - Chapter 11 - A History of Time_

While Genesis was busy with Sam, Barricade was busy with his grandfather.

Jetfire was entertaining himself by wiping something clean in secluded forest clearing, a monocle firmly placed over one eye. Every so often a tree on the outer edge of his work space would shake violently, groaning rising up in strangled hisses.

_/I told you he was good./_ the elder spirit said, placing his work down long enough to look over his shoulder. Barricade's loud, impassioned groan greeted his audios , causing the elder to chuckle. Jetfire picked up another piece of glass and began to scan its delicately etched surface, careful to not damage the alien glyphs.

Seconds later the sound of Barricade answering the call of his umpteenth overload sent birds filing into the sky. The tree jerked sharply and as Barricade's groan became louder, dead leaves were thrown air born as surrounding plant life was kicked repetitively. The elder spirit brushed the leaves off the warped tree the pieces of glass were laid out on, blase about the whole routine behind him. The tree in front of him was almost as old as he was in appearance only, its roots gnarled and bark peeling as it crested upwards from its sandy bed soil. Eventually Barricade's movement stopped and Jetfire returned to his work with a smirk.

_/You sound as if you've never-/_

'**Slag off, grandfather**.'

The elder spirit payed no attention as Barricade slowly rose from his seclusion, dusting leaves and branches off his chassis as he drew away from the broken chaos on the forest floor. Behind the black mustang, a younger mech followed, the rent of his last death wound tearing him from wing to helm. It had been cleaned of energon eons ago, but the young seeker was clearly unwilling to let go of his last injury. Only his face and helm had been welded shut. The rest still shone of exposed wiring and chipped paint.

_**/Now that you can think straight, I think it's time I told you why I'm here./**_Jetfire said, handing a small packet of energon chips to the young seeker. The seeker greedily grabbed what was offered and bowed sharply, clearly thankful, before he faded into grey smoke and shot off into the air like a supersonic mist.

'**Why does it matter?' **Barricade said, scowling at the bizarre sight that set the sky on fire on the astral level. '**Megatron's been defeated. I refuse to follow Starscream.'**

_**/Update your memory core, boy! Megatron is alive and well. The Fallen is the one you should fear./ **_The elder jet shook his head as he placed the glass pieces into a soft lined case from his chest. _/ What do they teach you younglings in the Academies these days?/_

'**None of your concern.'**

_/Then perhaps I should have left you to the Jinn?/_

Barricade scowled, eyeing his grandparent with barely hidden disgust. He could have argued. His whole being wanted to lash out verbally, but he held his opinions to himself. Disgusted, he shook his head and took a seat beside the elder spirit, careful not to jostle his own freshly welded injuries as he did so. His battle injuries would sting for the next few solar cycles. His grandsire may have not been the most talented field medic, but his hand was steady. Sometimes it was better to seethe than fight something he was sure he couldn't defend himself against and if seething meant hiding behind the guise of his battle wounds, so be it. As Starscream often said - Sometimes cowards lived to fight another day.

'Why are you here, grandfather?' Barricade asked in english. 'Soundwave said you had died in the deserts of Egypt. I'm not even going to ask why I can see you or the whore, because I'm clearly needing a **serious defragging**. '

_/The fact that your own optics were torn out by 'creepy crawlies', as you call them, isn't enough proof that your processor hasn't cracked?/_ Jetfire grunted back. _/You never were one to follow another's programming unless there was a good reason for it. I must provide something tangible to your sensors if you're still here tolerating me./_

'Would you have left me alone if I had fled?'

_/Errr... No./_

'Figures.'

Jetfire joined the black mustang on the forest floor, groaning loudly as he settled. _/__**I may be dead, but that still hurts like slag. Bloody joints still feel as rusty as yestercycle's wet drive shaft.**__/_

Silence grew thick between the two. Barricade broke it first.

'Why are you here, grandfather? Why can I see you... THEM?' The mustang shoved a finger in the direction of several Cybertronian nature spirits eagerly playing 'spook the rodent' with a chipmunk. The metalic, insect-like creatures darted in and out of the chipmunk's storage hoard, tossing it's hidden load as if they were toys. The Chipmunk, clearly frustrated with the unseen assailant, darted from one tossed item to another, grabbing them and trying to place them back in the pile.

_/Remember the stories of the Primes your sire left you?/ _the elder seeker said, watching the chipmunk's irritation.

'Old myths, nothing more.'

_/Quit being so fragging hard headed boy!/_Jetfire snapped. He gently slapped his grandson across the back of the head, which startled the striped rodent and the Cybertronian nature spirits into fleeing. _/Use that processor you were sparked with!/_

'For Primus'... Alright. Fine. You win! Yes. I remember. What of them?'

There was a tense moment as Jetfire snarled at his relation and accessed his memory core, going back to memories he had long since ignored. The seeker's sire had tried to teach him about his ancestry and about the Primes though he had never shown a real outward interest at first. Barricade had been the same way from the stories Soundwave had told. 'Cade had witnessed Megatron rise to power as Lord Protector and eventually start the war against his brother. The black mustang had expanded his limited knowledge of history when he entered The Decepticon Academies, taking Cybertronian history as one of his minor interests.

_/Tell me what you know of the tales./_

'The myths? They say that there was jealousy between the Primes and one sought power over the others. A battle ensued and one was left trapped while another lived on.'

_/__**So they do teach you things at the Academy. I'm impressed.**__ Go on./_

'There's diverging stories after that. ' Barricade snorted with abrupt annoyance and turned to glare at his grandfather. _'WHY_ are we doing this again?'

_/Because those bloody stories about the returning Primes __**revolve around you, boy.**__/_

'**What a load of -'**

_/Hush and listen./ _He waved his hand widely, as if the act itself would silence the other mech. Instead, he activated his personal hologram upgrade. Death, besides being mostly comfortable, also allowed one to create things one never got the chance to have when the spark still shone. _/ The stories don't explain everything. There was jealously all right, but here's the whole story. Those pesky humans thought we were gods and in a way I guess we are. All the Primes had mates. The Fallen, the bastard that he is, fell for one of the other Primes' chosen. Actually he tried it with every femme he could get his.../_

'And who was this 'Chosen'...?' Barricade cut in.

_/HUSH BOY!/ _Jetfire shook his hologram projector to steady it. He aimed it between Barricade's feet. Each of the Primes he listed appeared._/ There were seven Primes at first. Prima, the first Matrix bearer. Then came The Fallen, Vector Prime, Logos Prime, Nexus Prime and a female warrior who I'll leave to your imagination. I remember her. Gracious little demon when you twisted her servos the wrong way./ _Jetfire scratched his chin fringe absentmindedly as he remembered her.

_/ I would have Sparked her opticless had she been available. But anyways - The first Matrix bearer, Prima, had a spat with The Fallen, who trapped Prima in his sarcophagus. His femme found his sarcophagus and before the femme could break the seal, The Fallen split the thing into thirteen pieces . He gave each section to thirteen of us seekers to prevent the sarcophagus from being repaired. The sarcophagus managed to get pieced together despite our attempts, but by then it was too late. The humans called him .. __**Oh Primus. What was that slag head's name again?**__/ _Jetfire lay a servo upon his forehead, tapping it slightly. _/ The insufferable human tribe 'Greeks' named him Osiris. To keep things short, one Prime was left on Cybertron to run things there. The others split themselves neatly into different roles here on earth before The Fallen made life a hell for everyone. One ran the sun harvester. / _He started counting everyone off on one servo as he spoke._ / Another recorded everything we did and divided jobs among us seekers. We called him Alpha Trion. Another - a Matrix Bearer- lead us here when he found out about The Fallen's stunt. When he found that The Fallen had created trouble for humans, began to teach them to build as a repayment for our species' stupidity. Then Osirus' mate sparked a hatchling. Fearing The Fallen, he was raised by the Librarian after the Primes died to save the Matrix of Leadership. /_

'When do we get to the part where I'm involved?'

_/Your granddam was sired by Vector himself. /_

'The one in charge of time and space?' Barricade thought for several seconds. Then the mustang's jaw dropped when the information sunk in. He recovered quickly, slamming his jaw gears closed with a loud click. **'I'm a descendent of a glitching**_** Prime**_**?'**

_/No, you idiot. You're a wheel. /_

'Your sarcasm is noted, grandsire.'

_/As is yours./ _Jetfire displayed several holograms of the first seven Primes and their descendants as Jetfire understood their connections. As he spoke, the lineages broke down, leading to Barricade. The elder seeker's bounce between human tongue and cybertronian was so engrained into him by his centuries on earth that he put no thought into it. He was oblivious to his relation's annoyed look as he hopped from one language to another. _/Now back to your __**lesson. Your connection to Vector is more than genetics. You're to help ...**__ Oh, slag. What's his name?/_ A pause as the elder spirit searched his memory banks for the missing information. /_Anpu____- that's what the humans called him. __**He was in charge of the Primes in their sarcophagi. He's supposedly related to The Fallen, but supported The Matrix Bearer. Said he didn't fit in and switched philosophies.**__/_

'He defected? As Decepticon?' Barricade laid his head in his palms. The bombardment of new information hurt his processor.

_/There were no Autobots or Decepticons back then. We just were. Well, until The Fallen had to ruin it for everyone. I believe humans had a human they called Judas who did the same thing. I really did think something good was going to happen when I became one. / _A disgusted snort erupted loudly from the elder seeker._ / Boy was I wrong. Bunch of lying , servo twisting scoundrels./_

'I resemble that remark.'

_/Don't remind me./_

Again, silence fell between the two. In the background both mechs could hear the chattering of birds returning to the trees. Barricade resisted a shudder of disgust. It reminded him too much of his battle with Optimus in Egypt, when he was forced to dig his way from beneath the bustle and grime of the squishy's city. Had he known that ditching Starscream after escaping Optimus's molten tomb in Egypt would have lead him here, to talking to the dead and finding out he was a Prime descendent, he would have put down more chips in his bet with Swindle. The bet: That things would just get more psychotic under Starscream's rule than when Megatron was involved. Barricade, if he ever saw Swindle again, was going to be one rich mech.

The black mustang reached out to poke at his protoform image in Jetfire's Hologram. He hated when he couldn't predict things, especially when he wasn't in control. He had a sinking suspicion in the core of his chassis he wasn't going to like the reasons why he was needed ... whatever his grandsire was plotting.

_/Boy.../ _Jetfire's voice was calm. Restrained. Almost as annoying as the rodents humans called squirrels. It immediately put the black mustang on edge.

'Yes Grandsire?'

_/You're to sire a protoform. A Prime has found a way to return from stasis and can now escape his Sarcophagus./_

'Heeeeeeeeellllllllll no!'

_/Only Primes can be born, but one must be descended from a Prime in order to be a Prime-/ _Jetfire continued, voice desperate.

'End of Program, access denied. No. '

_/You're to be a guardian of the young protoform! Sire and Guardian!/_

'END OF PROGRAM! '

_/All it takes in one evening, a bit of high grade, an experienced-/_

'ABSOLUTE- Wait. You say High grade? Experienced?'

_/Always thinking with your spark chamber and fuel tank. I was the same way when I was at your frame./ _The Seeker snorted.

Jetfire tapped the black mustang on the shoulder, then pulled the lined container from a well concealed compartment in his chest to hand to him. Barricade eyed the plain, weathered contraption, squinting to study it, then carefully picked it out of his grandsire's fingers. The tiny box was wood and almost as old as Transformers' history on earth. It was fragile - more fragile than anything Barricade had seen, but it was clear Jetfire had taken care to preserve what he could. Inside lay several glass pieces marked with the wriggling, oddly shaped Gyphs used by the Primes. The craftsmanship was clearly alien. Rather, _human_, but whoever had made it had built it with the future in mind, so great the skill. Mind you the skill was probably from careful guidance, but it was strong. Barricade had to admit he was impressed, even if it was created by a squishy. As he reached out to touch it, his fingers stopped slightly as if they felt a physical force but slid through it as though the object didn't have enough mass to resist Barricade's probing fingers. The object, however, lost a few wood fibres yet otherwise remained intact. Following a whim, realizing it hadn't reacted the same way when he had first taken it from his grandsire, the mustang concentrated on the box and gently tapped it. It reacted like he suspected it would, and felt as if it existed on the physical level.

_/One of the pieces in there was given to me to prevent Prima from escaping his Sarcophagus. / _The elder spirit said. _/Vector didn't want the shattered pieces after Prima's second crossing attempt failed. He and Prima said they would come in handy one day. When the other Primes fell, I collected what I could after the battle. Only one piece is missing - The Fallen's as his sarcophagus was never shattered. /_

'Why keep it for so long?'

_/Call it seeker's intuition. /_

Barricade rolled all four of his eyes at his grandsire's comment, then began to rise.

_/You're also to be trained in spirit seeking, Barricade. / _Jetfire said._ /Otherwise you cannot help protect the young Prime's spark. /_

'I'm no Fragging glitch headed breeder.'

_/You are whether you admit to it or not. And because you're a Prime descendent, you also have a chance of becoming Prime yourself./_

Barricade stood, eyed his grandfather and held out a spindle-like servo to help the elder spirit up. He still didn't look convinced. From the glint of excited greed in the mustang's optics, Jetfire knew he had said something right. It just needed time to sink in.

'I think I'll be needing a lot more high grade than I was planning. ' the black mustang said. ' You wouldn't happen to have any of the stuff you like to brag about in that afterlife of yours?'


	12. Unavoidable Consequences

A/N:

Reminder: 'normal speak', **'cybertronian',** _/spook speak/_

_Miracles - Chapter 12 - 'Unavoidable Consequences'_

Sam could only hear two sounds - the sound of his socks hitting the hard rock of the tunnel and his heart pounding in his ears. It felt like hours since he had first passed through that first tunnel and been briefed by Genesis. Now he was alone, desperately trying to find the clue that he was supposed to give Thoth at the rendezvous. He was exhausted. He wouldn't allow himself to stop or rest until he found what he needed. Genesis hadn't been kidding when she told him the gates would be the hardest things he would ever face and if being literally eaten by a Transformer sized demon and then spat out as a fully digested corpse hadn't been warning (or revolting) enough, the shadow presence chasing him wasn't any more comforting. At each door he had passed up to this point he had to give something up. His shirt. His shoes. Dears and presumptions he thought were innocent and well thought out. It was a game right now of hunter and hunted. He could feel Genesis on another level, trying to help him. Every time their minds touched, he could feel panic, but it was comforting, as if she held the key to resisting the hell he was punching himself through.

He felt the shadow touch him and he squeaked, feeling another of his internal defences collapsing under the strain of its power. Memories and frustrations he held about his parents flooded to the surface, stripping him of the unbridled fears he denied he felt about them. He felt guilty about everything he ever said to them, about them, leaving one less pile of emotional trauma on his shoulders. He hurt. It physically _hurt_ having this emotional scar picked at, but he felt lighter and he knew he was one step closer to finding his goal as a result. If anything, the emotional pain was worse than having his skin etched away as he had been digested. That had been hours ago and it still stung even though his astral 'skin' no longer existed, leaving only a metal-like aura.

He was going to make sure Optimus shoved a foot so far up Genesis' aft after he was done that she could never transform again. Primus be damned.

He cheered with triumph when he found the room he needed. Genesis was already there, gently motioning towards the artifacts that cluttered the statue's visage.

The statue was distinctly Cybertronian in design and it was clear where the egyptians received some of their artistic influences. Sam, body so sore that his bones ached, climbed several carved heads so he could reach the inorganic creation. It was a Prime, it's miniature eyes glowing unearthly in the dark room. It looked a lot like Thoth when Sam studied it, seeing the God's influence in its delicate handiwork. Sam refused to dwell on the concept, though. He was tired, stressed and the look Genesis was giving him, a pained expression of concern and anxiety, didn't settle his nerves either.

He licked his lips and cautiously moved the artifacts out of the way until the statue was clear. When he reached out to pick it up, he was startled so badly he almost fell off his precarious perch when it slapped his hand. Hard.

_/WHATTHEHELL?/_

Genesis cringed.

_/Think, boy! Think! The rules here aren't the same as in the real world! What did I teach you? What is it?/_

Silence as Sam tried to dredge up the information he needed from all the information he was being crammed with. There were a ton of things he had to remember. What was this damnable thing called? He forced his mind to silence and he concentrated on the object's presence as Genesis had explained. It _looked_ like a solid object, but wasn't. Its presence almost swore at him as he read it, which meant -

_/Power object./_

Genesis beamed, he wings flapping slightly. Why she had wings where her shoulder struts were, he didn't know. They would appear and disappear at random, seemingly when Genesis was at her most stressed.

_/Right. What do you do with power objects?/_

_/Speak to them./_

Sam felt like a moron, but he drew his hands away from the statue. If only his professors could see him now. Mr. Witwicky, the student who spoke to voices in his head. As if 'Mr. Einstein' didn't sting enough. Or had before that emotion had been stripped away during last level's purification challenge.

_/I apologize./ _Sam stated to the statue, blushing profusely.If it meant helping Optimus and saving his parents, he was going to do whatever it took._ /I'm kinda in a hurry. Y'mind if I brought you to see-/ _Sam spun to stare at Genesis ._ /What's his name again? The long beaked, bird head guy./_

_/Djehuty./_

_/Thanks./ _He dug a small coin from out of his pockets and offered it to the statue. He placed it at the statue's feet._/Dje-huty.. Um..I call him Thoth... He needs you so I can help a friend. Y'mind if I brought you along?/_

The statue seemed to stare at him a moment. It didn't react after that, making Sam blush deeper. He wasn't sure if he had screwed up more than he had intended, but then it shifted... no... Literally _transformed _into a flat, shield-like object that looked like a cross between a carrying case and a weird, electronic mirror. He gently reached for it and when it didn't move, he picked it up. Whatever negative emotions he had been denying before that point melted away in one exhausting waft. He slumped against the statue he perched on and would have bounced off the ones below him in a nasty fall if Genesis hadn't reached out to steady him. Genesis took the coin from the place the statue stood and pressed it against the reflective surface of the object.

_/Congratulations, Sammy-boy. Now you just have to challenge the Prime./_ She picked the human up and Ruffled his hair in a playful tussle. She headed towards the next door, chuckling as she did so. _/It gets pretty sticky from here. Battling demons and stuff like before? Easy. Primes don't hold anything back./_ She stopped suddenly when Usat greeted her. The goddess-like woman dropped her human guise, her artificial skin burning away as it changed from the organic likeness of a human's hide to a skin of colorful metals and circuitry. Before the two students stood the frame of a powerful being in its true form. Before them stood one of the first Primes. Genesis bowed her head and kneeled briefly.

_/Mother Usat./_

_/Enough of the human formalities, Genesis. Call me by my true name./_

_/Yes, __**Innova.**__/_

Sam lifted his head slowly, not quite sure what to make of the Femme in front of them.

_/Are you the one I'm supposed to fight?/_

_/No. At least, not at the level you're training at. I'm far too advanced for your ... Maturity./_

The human looked relieved at Innova's comment. _/Then who am I up against?/_

_/No-one until you observe a few purifications./_

Sam shivered violently with the thought of being purified yet again. Everything he thought didn't bother him was stripped clean, leaving him feeling exposed. He dreaded another round of emotions being stripped like bad paint from a weathered wall. Another round of anxiety and depression and..

He felt it. The presence chasing him up the tunnel had followed him here. He didn't know what to call them, but 'Gutters' seemed to fit them. Or 'skin snatchers' as that was what it did. It came across as an ancestor who had been recruited to help Sam through his trials. For every time Sam was faced with a new challenge, a new creature similar to the Gutter would come and literally hack away at his skin. The thing hung back, waiting, as if wanting orders from Innova. Awaiting the permission to strike at him and gut his body, leaving the human's skin hanging from the statues in the room like bad halloween ornaments. In the beginning Sam would have feared the bizarrely horrific creatre, which was stripped down to nothing but bone and random bits of flesh. Now Sam understood why it was needed and although he was wary of its presence, he respected it and its job.

_/How many more of those do I need?/ _He said, referring to the purifications and the 'Gutter'.

_/No more, Sam. However if you lose against our Prime, it will get what remains of your spirit and boil what's left of you. /_

_/Disgusting./_

Genesis chuckled. _/I told you, you will be reborn. Your ancestors did this over three or more days. Each step was modified for each of the cultures we discovered. Some were eaten by bears. Others were boiled, eaten and the bones turned to metal. Others were sent to the Christian hell and returned as reborn angels. It's a necessary step, child. If you can handle this kind of pain, You can handle the greater challenges awaiting you./_

Innova nodded her head in agreement.

_/Even we Primes had to prove our worth to carry the title of Prime. These steps, although horrific in your mind, mimic what a Prime would face in the real world./_

Sam was silent as he mouthed what the Primes told him when he had crossed to the astral in Egypt. One had to prove they were worthy of carrying the Matrix of Leadership.

_/You also said that if I handled and survived the ... Things.. after me, it means I can handle that creature's energies. Genesis said it's like it both on the physical and this plain. I've nearly been run over, stepped on, blown up and had my head cut open by insane Decepticons./ _His eyes went wide._ /THAT'S why you're pitting me against a Prime? Because I've survived Transformer attacks?/_

Innova looked at Genesis, one of her delicate metal eyebrows raising slightly in amusement._ /He learns fast for one so young./_

Genesis almost shone with Pride.

_/Not just Transformer energies, Sam. Decepticon ones. / _

Innova grunted, crossing her arms across her chest. _/We need to know if you can survive on your own on this plain, child. We already know that you are capable of doing it on the other side. / _Her gaze softened as she contemplated the human boy's future tests, then motioned towards the mirror-like item still in Genesis' hands._ /Cross planes, child. And Good luck. /_

Genesis placed the item on the floor. Sam approached it, not sure what he was to do until the item began to sparkle, shimmer then sent arcs of electricity over the frame. The entire front of the item turned into a type of portal, it's Cybertronian origin lighting up glyphs down its sides as it powered up. Sam eyed it with fear. Giving the portal one last look of uncertainty, he held his breath and walked through the shimmering field that looked like etched glass.

NOTE:

I have no idea what Innova Prime's real name is as she's not named in the TF Wikki. As a result, I made something up. When we find out who she is, expect that little detail to change ;) Maybe she'll appear in the third TF movie?


	13. Chaos Mongers

**A/N:** Be warned, this chapter is a little bit gory.

**Reminder:** 'normal speak', **'cybertronian',** _/spook speak/, _:Autobot communication frequencies:, _/:spook comm frequency:/_

_Miracles - Chapter 13 - 'Chaos Mongers'_

While Sam was battling monsters and Barricade was getting a firm history lesson from his Grandsire, Bumblebee was on his back wondering exactly WHY he joined the Autobots when he always seemed to get his aft shot off.

Ironhide was laying across the Yellow Autobot's chassis, pinning the younger, injured Autobot on his back. 'Bee watched with horror as the black Decepticon hunting him warped into something out of a bad human horror flick and made another grab for the elder warrior on top of him. Ironhide let the demon know exactly how he felt about the situation and placed a well aimed fist between its metallic jaws, sending broken teeth and shards of metal clattering to the tarmac of the base. Bumblebee shielded his face with his free hand, then chucked a large shard of debris that landed on his face.

'What the in the PIT are these things?' Jolt yelled from above the thrum and squeals of battle. He dodged a shot from what was clearly Blackout, the dead Decepticon still missing half his face from his last battle. Optimus was dancing with several century - dead seekers, their joints scratching painfully with every movement. Epps was attempting to take pot shots at some of the Decepticons he could identify and was frustrated that instead of firing at the enemy, the enemy was using the shots going through them to wound the Autobots with friendly fire. They purposely positioned themselves near their targets and if a shot didn't outright go through them, they would, by some bizarre force, open up a route through their bodies so the ammunition hit home where they directed it.

Things were not going well for the crew of Garcia.

Sideswipe, dogging a lancing thrust by someone's sword, managed to connect with something Physical. The Decepticon, this time, turned out to be a real target and 'Swipe reached out to grab its face long enough to shove his own blades between its optics. That's when he felt something rake claws down his back, the sensation of fire frying his neurosystem's pain blockers. He went down hard and in instant agony. The paint bubbled and peeled where he had been hit, melting his exoskeleton to expose the fine electrical systems beneath. The creature that swiped him was quickly targeted by Ironhide's own weapon systems and went down just as severe with a satisfying, wet noise. It crumbled into rust and slag as soon as it hit the ground.

Ratchet took the brief lapse in battle to rush to Sideswipe's aid. The medic helped the silver Autobot roll over to Bumblebee's location and the Yellow Camero, after shoving Ironhide off him, helped apply pressure to the gouges in Sideswipe's back. Jolt, meanwhile, kept fire off the working troupe.

_:Primus! I took Blackout down six times myself and he won't _stay_ down.,:_ The Sideswipe hissed, his frustration clear over his comm frequency.

_:Optimus isn't doing much better,:_ Ratchet said, netting a glimpse of the leader firing his weapons at seemingly nothing. _: They act like nothing I've ever combatted before. :_

_: Like nothing ANY of us have combatted before!:_ Jolt corrected, another target giggling madly despite a full powered charge zapping it from Jolt's own weapon system. Had it been Cybertronian, the creature would have fallen and not gotten up.

Sideswipe yowled sharply as Ratchet smeared salve over the exposed circuitry to quell the acid eating away at the silver Autobot's armor. He then patched the Autobot's back with temporary bandages. _:Do you have to be so rough? I can feel every damn thing you're doing!:_

_:You're still alive, aren't you? Quit complaining.:_

Sideswipe snorted with disbelief._ :Lucky miss. Optimus owes me some of that aged High Grade of his if we survive this.:_

_/:He's gonna owe all of us some if we don't:/_

Four heads swung around to face the source of the new and very familiar voice.

_:Ironhide... That human of yours been spiking our fuel?:_ Sideswipe asked. _:'Cuz I swear I'm seeing Jazz.:_

_:Primus and Pulsars.: _Ratchet looked up from his task and out of shock, muttered quietly. None of them could comprehend it. Jazz laid there as real as he had been in life.

Bumblebee, letting Ratchet take over medical proceedings on Sideswipe's back, crawled over to Jazz's ghost on his servos and knees, both to avoid being shot at and to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He reached out to pinch his old friend's leg even though there were several rocket launches firing overhead, and gripped one of the projections on his inner foot that Mikaela said always reminded her of an animal's dew claw. The foot wriggled sharply and Jazz rolled over to take a half hearted swipe at the camero. 'Bee scuttled backwards, 'It's ALIVE!', recorded from an early frankenstein movie, resounding loudly from his speakers. He seemed torn between fleeing and wanting to make a running glomp at his old team mate. He eventually chose to leap on his companion and snogged his upper half hard in the side, ignoring the gore. Jazz rolled his optics beneath his scratched visor.

_/Yeah. Missed you, too, buddy./_

Jazz appeared as two pieces, his upper torso crawling on his chest while his legs did a comical attempt at stealth by shuffling itself in a sitting position and pushing themselves backward. 'Bee pinched Jazz's shoulder struts one last time to make sure he wasn't hallucinating before he settled beside Ironhide. He didn't understand ... why everyone was seeing Jazz now? Yet he was grateful. Everyone suddenly flattened themselves as something spiked overhead, causing 'Bee to take cover. Sideswipe grunted loudly as he swung around to face the oncoming attacker. The creatures were aimed at Ratchet. The first missed its mark as Jazz's legs connected hard with its side, sending the flying, winged demon into it's companion before they could strike. The two sent more of their winged mates into the air in one black, flying mass as they rolled across the energon laden tarmac. Sideswipe managed to gut one of the beasts as they took to the air, the things squealing as it seizured in its final death throws. Some Decepticons shifted into deformed beasts clearly not of Cybertronian origin, their tentacles and scarred, alien faces reaching out to lash at anything within reaching distance. Others, such as deceased seekers, despite old injuries, did what they could with what limited weaponry they had at their disposal. A human soldier screamed as he was grabbed but before he could be consumed, several shadows leaped on his attacker, forcing it to drop the human and flee. More of the humans headed back towards the base's hidden cargo doors, firing at anything they deemed 'unfriendly'. Human carnage was everywhere, the dead laying in lakes of their own blood and body parts littering the tarmac. When Ravage shot out the door to latch his jaws onto a deceased seeker intent on swallowing several humans whole, the humans spread like panicked ants in the face of an insecticide attack.

Bumblebee quickly surveyed his surroundings, hoping to see his mate. He had been annoyed when Genesis hadn't shown for the pre battle briefing. Now he was thankful, as the pacifist had a tendency to obey her instincts when she would have been a hindrance. Which probably explained Sam and Mikaela's missing faces at the pre-battle briefing and the current battle. Even with Jazz's rather startling appearance at everyone's side, he wished Genesis had spoken to him before her Houdini act so he at least knew where she'd been going. When he finally got out of the SNAFU they were calling a battle, they were going to have a nice, long (and probably heated) conversation about communication in bonded relationships.

The sound of Optimus groaning as he fell alerted everyone. Something was chewing on the Autobot Leader's sword, the thing making impossible swings to gouge out the Autobot commander's eyes. The creature was squealing loudly in a chattering version of Cybertronian, Optimus replying with his own growled answers as the creature traded insults.

/**He returns! HE RETURNS!**/ it squealed. It missed the Autobot commander's optics. /**We demand SACRIFICE! We were PROMISED a PRIME!/**/

'**Not in this lifetime!**' Optimus snarled. Ironhide came to the commander's aid in a spark pulse, the black topkick's cannon his answer to a particularly brazen comment. Before the smoke on in creature's fatal wounds had a chance to clear, Ironhide was attacked from behind. The Topkick rolled in an attempt to remove the creature and failed though his experienced flailing was presenting a challenge to the creature. Optimus, with a servo latched around the creature's helm in order to pry it off his companion's back, missed the chance to prevent the new demon from biting hard into Ironhide's side. The metallic demon ripped into the topkick , layer after layer of armor and underlaying exoskeleton peeling away until the elder Autobot's spark could be seen gleaming beneath the beast. Ironhide fell soundlessly to the ground and shuddered. His eyes flickered as he fought stasis lock and eventually stayed dark. Optimus beheaded the offending creature and was immediately picking his old friend up and carrying him to safety.

That's when the new creature came, a saviour to those fighting the demons. It blinked into existence via a transport device, one moment there being nothing and another moment there being a creature from Hades himself wrecking havoc on the demons. It warped in, snarling driving the attackers away with its own, toothed carnage that brought its victims down when the Autobots and the humans could not. Four more blinks appeared around it, horns and teeth attacking from ground and air, with swords, jaws and fists. The demons fled, squealing in unholy union, the Decepticons, both ghost and physical enemy, following suit.

When the chaos finally lifted, the largest of the creatures wandered over. Its' companions kept to the edges of the clearing, firing on occasion to drive off stragglers. The humans slowly backed towards their Autobot companions, rifles raised at what was clearly a dinosaur. A very large, very real, dinosaur. Jazz took the opportunity to wiggle towards the creature, his legs dancing some odd move every so often behind him in cheer.

/_About time you showed up! I was afraid we'd never see your handsome face!_/

With a shift and whirl of gears the organic creature transformed, exposing a very large, red eyed cybertronian. The flesh and muscle of its' frame rippled seamlessly as it unsheathed it's sword, growling.

'Me Grimlock not handsome. Me Grimlock KING!'

**Note:** Seems Bay dislikes the Dinobots. We must correct their absence, yes?


	14. Challenged

**Reminder:** 'normal speak', **'cybertronian',** _/spook speak/, _:Autobot communication frequencies:, _/:spook comm frequency:/_

_Miracles - Chapter 14 - ' Challenged '_

Sam hid behind a rock, quivering. He peered over the edge with trepidation and despite the terror screaming through him and eating away at his gut, he refused to back down. Not now. Not after so much running.

How the hell was he supposed to win against this thing?

If Megatron had been scary, demanding the Cube as he had perched atop the decrepid building those years ago, the Prime stalking him now was a nuclear holocaust in comparison. The Mecha treaded softly despite its size, which would have towered over Optimus had the Autobot been in their presence. Its metalic legs, oddly bird like, gently laid its toes down before its' sword came out to quickly flip a rock onto its side.

/_Best to deal with me now, mortal._/ the Prime said. /_Or your terror will act in my favour._/ A smile appeared on the Prime's face as he continued stalking the human. /_I can hear your heartbeat. _/ A pause as it searched for his human prey. Then, without warning, the sword came down in Sam's direction, splitting the rock he was hiding behind in two. Sam bolted, his eyes rolling back into his head with sheer fright.

/_Nonononono!_/

How in God's name was he supposed to fight this thing? Genesis had only given him one instruction before the gate had closed his one and only escape route and it still made no sense. The Prime was dangerous and he had to survive. It would be the most difficult task he had ever done, and by the bloody hells in every Mythos he could think of, she hadn't been kidding. Her was to use his sheer will to survive, but... How the hell was he expected to do that when he had nothing. Nothing! NOTHING! And the sunuvabitch Prime behind him was hell bent on killing him. Damn near sliced his head off when they had first met, on a long, dusty road. Which explained why he was still here. He just kept running, though for how much longer he didn't know. Felt like hours and although his body ached, his mind was faltering. Sometimes he swore the Prime let him rest and just as he thought he could recover fully, the Prime attacked again.

Sam managed to dart behind several trees and stumbled head first into a steep ditch. He slid several feet, getting dirt in his eyes and mouth as he pitched down the embankment. He rolled onto his back when he finally came to a stop, ignoring the new scrapes making his metal skin bleed energon. That was one of the weird things about this dimension. He was human, but whenever he needed inspiration, like when he imagined himself doing what Ironhide or Bumblebee would have done in his same situation, his skin.. Changed. If he survived, he would ask Genesis about the weird trait. He just hoped it wasn't a permanent feature.

He looked up. The trees cast dark shadows over him and the ditch, the branches waving to some strange, alien breeze that only existed to them. The shadows danced as the moved, then trembled as the Prime strode by. Sam held his breath, staring upwards as the light reflecting off the Cybertronian cast its own mired of colors into the trees' shadows.

That's when Sam saw it. A snake. A Cobra to be more precise. He slowly shifted his weight away from it, one hand clutching the thin trunks of saplings around him as he helplessly held his balance. The snake rose, and just as the skin off Alice (back when Sam had confronted the Pretender) had peeled away, the skin of the snake sloughed off to expose the creature's true robotic form. Then it stretched meticulously towards him, untangling itself from the ground cover as if to inspect the human. Then it froze, it's gears and hood locking into place. Sam lifted an eyebrow when it didn't move. He carefully grabbed a stick from beside him, still casting cautious stares around him for the Prime, and poked the Snake. The snake had become a staff. Satisfied that it wasn't Going to add to his problems, he grunted and picked up the thing. As soon as he touched it, his metallic skin rippled as if receiving some new programming.

That's when the Prime hit.

Sam bolted, climbing up the ditch side with every ounce of strength he could muster. He pulled himself up using the foliage around him, but was knocked back onto his back by a swipe from the Prime's claws. Swipe, dodge, swipe dodge. Roll. And just when he thought the Prime was going to land a killing blow, he blocked his face with both arms and the staff and screamed.

The staff immediately sent up an energy shield that caused the Prime's aim to slide and land in the dirt beside the cowering human.

/_Very Good, human. Keep trying_./ It wasn't mockery, but gentle guidance in his tone.

/Huh?

The Prime smirked. /_Lesson one accomplished, mortal. But the battle's not yet complete._/ The Prime raised his sword for another strike.

Again Sam bolted. He made it up the side of the ditch this time, quickly fleeing to a patch of ferns. The Prime ran behind him, swerving sharply as if to cut him off. The sword came down and Sam, out of sheer frustration, swung the staff at the sword. The blade shattered. The Prime leapt back, completely flabbergasted at the move, and shouted something very unfriendly in Cybertronian. The Prime picked up what remained of his weapon and continued on after then human.

There was no continued howl of protest, no mockery, at least not like how Megatron had taunted him. There was a laughing glint in the Prime's eye, like a teacher gets when dealing with a particularly stubborn student. A slight sneer formed on the mecha's faceplate as he reached out to strike at the human with the remains of his sword. Sam found himself air born, landing with a heavy, lung-crushing thud. The Prime growled and pulled out another blade from his arm guard and charged. Sam rolled to his feet, then, taking a chance, stood his ground with the staff in his hands. If the staff had formed the shield when he needed it most and had shattered the first sword, perhaps it would help again. Like Genesis had lectured him, he focused intent into the staff and shakily, he felt the staff come alive. The staff shook, stretched out and as the Prime approach yet again, he felt the programming in the staff take hold of him. Sam suddenly found himself knowing how to use the staff in a battle. More accurately, it took over his limbs. Sam just had to direct the staff where he wanted it to go and the staff did it for him. The Prime retaliated, still attempting to strike out at the human, but Sam was able to make blows that forced the Prime to keep a respectful distance. He felt like the staff was delaying his inevitable death and he would let Mikaela and Genesis down. But hadn't Genesis been the one to get him trapped in this shit forsaken place?

Sam squeaked when the Prime barely connected with his face. Had the blades been a smidgen closer, he would have been missing half his head. Sam took off, dodging then Prime's further attacks. He bolted through a clearing and found himself almost stumbling into the deepest holes he had ever seen. The feeling coming from the dark tunnel was ... Etherial. Dark. Like if he could face the tunnel, he might find help, but what lay inside was potentially as dangerous, if not more so than the Prime. If he chose to stay and avoid the potential terror that would eat him on the other side, the Prime would kill him. Either way, he was screwed. The Prime approached him, sword gleaming. Sam passed glances between the hole and the Prime, then with no further hesitation, jumped into the abyss.

The next thing he knew, he was bolting upright and inhaling air that felt like acid in his lungs. Several NEST medics stood around him in the medical wing, their dark eyes vivid behind their masks. Mikaela sat on her aft, relieved to see Sam was moving, while a very annoyed Bumblebee glared at Genesis as her own wounds were tended. In then corner, still in his own plain where he had left him, was the Prime.

_/Welcome back to the land of the living, Sam Witwicky./_ The Prime said. /_Consider your lessons completed for the time being._/ The Prime bowed respectfully and laid the snake staff down beside the human. /_You could have killed me and did not. That was your second lesson. The third was to face the Abyss. You have earned the staff._/ A wink. /_And I'll tell my son to lay off you before you see him. _/ He winked once, a sly smile on his faceplates before he and the window to his dimension closed.


	15. Tension Rising

**Reminder:** 'normal speak', **'cybertronian',** _thinking_, _/spook speak/, _:Autobot communication frequencies:, _/:spook comm frequency:/_

_**Notes: **_Oh come on. Why would I only have one and not the other? SACRILEGE! (As to what I'm referring to? You'll have to read the chapter, muahahahahaaaa!

* * *

Miracles - Chapter 14 - ' Tensions Rising'

Barricade was exhausted. Despite being weak from lack of rest and a decent refuelling, he continued on. By pure sheer will. Or according to Jetfire, sheer stupidity. His grandsire walked slowly behind him, the cane used out of habit rather than necessity. Every so often he would tap his grandcreation with the end of his cane to accentuate a point. Like now.

_/You're going kill yourself the way you push yourself, boy./_ Tap Tap with the cane.

'And your point being?'

_/Rest. Things are urgent but not so urgent you die before you find the slagging Femme. You need the strength to dent her plating./_ He pulled out a small container of aged energon and took a swig of it. He didn't bother offering Barricade any as the black mustang wouldn't have been able to drink the stuff, even if he focused on it. It was particularly foul, whatever it was refined from. _/The human populations are still far off. You have at least a few cycles to-/_

'No.' Barricade ground out the word between clenched dental plates. They were currently deep within the jungles of Columbia, the Decepticon managing to sneak aboard several transport ships to South America from the Mediterranean. It had meant killing several squishies to keep his presence hidden, but it was well worth the chaos their deaths had caused. Now he was in Bolivia, following a new road dredged into the face of the Amazon forest. Once he crossed the human political line into the wilderness beyond he would have a chance to refuel on his own, private stockpile. Sometimes being paranoid paid off.

_/Stubborn Fool./_

As much as his grandsire annoyed him, he was proving to be a useful ally. He was his audio and optic sensors in the dark as well as keeping him safe from... from whatever had attacked him when he and Jetfire had met. Barricade exhaled deeply through his vents, then, with a growl, sat himself down where he stood.

'Happier?'

_/Only if you were a femme and missing most of your armour,/_ the elder spirit chuckled. He took a seat beside the mustang. _/Where is this stockpile of yours and Frenzy's?/ _

'How the Pit did you-'

_/'I can read your sodding mind, Barricade. I've been hearing you recite the deal you made with that micro-tick in your stasis naps since we landed. / _A brief pause and a wry grin. _/An old ship you used as a storage bunker./_

Silence fell between the two mecha. Barricade, still on edge about the human soldiers he had almost been forced to gun down, increased his Audio sensor range for anything that would tip him off about an approach. All he heard was the weird calls of alien arboreal creatures and the steady drip of water.

"It's another solar cycle's walk through this.. Organic slag.' Barricade finally said, flicking an exceptionally large insect off of a branch shielding his vision. 'Frenzy insisted, especially when Starscream took power.' Frenzy. Starscream. They seemed to be part of two worlds millions of light years apart from his current, insane, situation. To think the two had anything to do with the battle he hard heard about and the Fallen's death. If it was true. He almost missed the annoying symbiote and Soundwave's monotone lecture on frenzy's proper care. Starscream... Well, Barricade preferred not to think about that particular malfunction.

More silence. Barricade, already impatient and fidgety, rose and began to hike towards the border he sought, and the abandoned bunker beyond. He passed through the jungle with caution and frustration, ignoring Jetfire's snide comments as he rose. Five minutes wasn't a proper rest, but it was at least long enough to recheck his internal compass against Frenzy's hastily digitized notes.

He walked without stopping, wishing that he had been sparked a seeker instead of a ground pounder. Even the roads, as much a blessing through the forest the humans found them, were bad enough to dent his rims out of shape. He listened to Jetfire's speeches about old friends he wanted to meet again. Yet still they walked. The terrain was thick, rough, with a few breaks where a human 'road' had started to grow in. Several times he forced himself to burn passages through the growth, swearing as he worked. Swearing at more used energy when he knew he could have taken an easier route. Swearing over the increased chance that his presence would be found in the wilderness. But he , thankfully, remained hidden from both Autobot and Decepticon this time. The border came, went and thankfully, there were no signs of human habitation. A false alarm on his thermals had ended up with a dead monkey here and there, and in the end it was a grand game to him. Jetfire clearly wasn't impressed with the new form of entertainment the mustang had invented for himself, but kept his opinions firmly to himself.

When they arrived at the location, Barricade had to tear away a decade's worth of growth over the bunker door. He swore, hoping it wouldn't attract human attention. The Decepticon grunted as he tore open the freshly exposed, rusted hatch, which activated the security systems. When the systems refused to deactivate due to exposure to the elements from old weapon damage, he slammed a spiked fist into the control panel. It sparked impressively.

'I hate delays,' he snapped to his grandsire before sliding up the hatch, and into the bunker below.

Barricade landed with a hard, joint trembling thud that echoed fiercely throughout the empty space. The bunker was actually part of a small shuttle that he and Frenzy had managed to steal from the Nemesis' cargo bay. The theft had been blamed on the Autobots, of course, as had the shipment of stolen energon. Now, to his delight, the glow from the cubes greeted him, still as fresh as the day he and Frenzy had stolen them. He grabbed a cube, threw himself in the nearest seat in the hanger and gorged himself. When he finished the cube, he grabbed a second and downed that one in a messy display of hunger. Primus. It felt good to have energon, real energon in his systems again and not that organic slag humans called gasoline! When he was done, he laid back in his chair and rested.

It was his grandsire's voice that suddenly startled him out of stasis.

_/Brings a drop of Lubricant to the optics, doesn't it?/ _Jetfire said, picking up a cube. Barricade jumped, seeing the elder's head suddenly appear through the roof of the hold.

'How many times do I have to tell you NOT to do that to me?'

_/Well, I'm sorry for slagging up the reunion party, but I thought you'd want to know we have Autobots. Flashy little bunch of fleshlings we have, too./_

'Fragging Pits! Must have been the security systems!' Barricade snarled, cutting his grandsire off. The system would have broadcasted an emergency frequency to anyone near by due to his ...errr... 'demarming'. Barricade had forgotten all about the alerts. A potentially fatal mistake, although the busted control panel was a good excuse for not getting it done. He opened up a storage compartment in the floor of the hold. Rummaging provided him with numerous articles and he pulled out several long weapons and a stash of scrap, which were flung to the side with two cubes of energon. Then he kicked down the door to the shuttle's control room.

'Shuttle Activation, Mission code: Ladiesman217' he snapped at the computer, dragging his gear into the control room.

AUTOBOT SIGNALS DETECTED the bunker's automated warnings announced.

_/:Ladiesman?:/_ Jetfire chuckled somewhere in the back of the mustang's head. _/:I would have thought you had more imagination that that.:/_

'Slag off, grandsire. It wasn't my choice.'

The elder blackbird laughed harder.

Barricade slapped in several codes into the shuttle's launching system, and grabbed the controls that activated the thrusters. The shuttle shuddered violently, then with several heaves, began to rise. He wasn't sure if the partial shuttle-gone-bunker would fly with so much vegetation covering it, but he wasn't going to be caught dead in an engagement with Autobots and only his grandsire's wraith as backup.

It was clear his efforts were vain. The thrusters started to signal overheating warnings all over the place and despite Barricade's attempts to get the mud surrounding the vents burned away, he wasn't going anywhere. He launched himself out of the pilot seat and grabbed his weaponry. If he couldn't fly away, at least he could stand up and fight. Frenzy would have called him a coward, but the little maggot was known for being just as flighty when things were stacked against him. Besides, Barricade wasn't going to risk his energon for any number of Autobots.

He checked the bunker door, using his thermal sensors before sticking his head through the opening. He could hear the running of human soldiers through the damp forest, and the whir of gears on foliage. He could pick up at least six humans and two mecha. Either way, he was screwed if he played the situation wrong. He quickly turned to check where his grandsire had fled to, but there was nothing. Slagger had left him to fight the battle alone!

That's when he heard the sound of a cannon being cocked and felt the tip of the weapon aimed at his head. He looked up and found himself face to face with an Autobot wearing a thermal reflector. No wonder Barricade hadn't noticed a thing.

**'I wouldn't move, fragger,**' an unfamiliar but very Cybertronian voice said to him. The yellow mecha smiled, a rather reptilian expression on his face plates. '**I wouldn't want to ruin my paint job with your cranial spray.'**


	16. Suspicions

**Reminder:** 'normal speak', **'cybertronian',** _thinking_, _/spook speak/, _:Autobot communication frequencies:, _/:spook comm frequency:/_

_Miracles - Chapter 16 - 'Suspicions'_

Back in the caves at Nest Headquarters, Bumblebee was resisting the urge to grab one of Ironhide's cannons to blow a hole in the nearest wall. Sadly, it was Sideswipe who had already done the same thing.

'Arms down! Report, Sideswipe!' Optimus snapped, taking a glance at the smouldering hole in the bunker's wall.

The silver twin stared at his commander, a firm scowl moulding his face plates into an expression that made the working humans at his feet take a wide path around him. He was shaking, opening and closing his fists as if the action itself would contain his rage. 'The femme!' he finally snarled. 'Sam! We allowed her sanctuary here and now we find she's injured Sam and Ironhide is hovering three circuit connectors from a permanent trip to the well of all sparks because of _her_! If she can do this to a human, who says she won't take a blade to the rest of us?'

'She wouldn't do those things!' Bumblebee snapped at his team mate. It had been constant chaos since Sam had woken up. Almost an earth rotation they had been waiting for him to wake and while Sam had listed everything that had happened to him, Jazz had hovered by Ironside's wounded chassis. It was frustrating. Bumblebee never expected Genesis to harm anyone and no amount of arguing was going to change anyone's minds. Especially the one that was currently owned by the twin snarling across the gallery at him.

'Why? Oh right. You _frag her_. You know everything she thinks.' Sideswipe sneered. He gestured rudely at the Camero. 'Sounds like you let your new love interest blinds you like a spark sick yearling. Who KNOWS what her real back story is?'

Bumblebee found himself whipping out his own cannon and going after the silver twin. 'How _dare you_ insult her like that!' he hissed, his voice crackling with static. Optimus rushed out to hold the yellow Camero. He calmly shook his head at the smaller Autobot and Bumblebee pulled himself back, passing the silver twin a glare of his own before storming to Volt's side. He wrapped his arms around his sides, and angerly dug his toe into a dent in the cement floor.

Volt side stepped out of the young Autobot's way. He was about to comfort the Camero but thought better of it, and let Bumblebee stand with his back to his team mates. There was a deep sigh as 'Bee vented his intakes and lay head in the palm of his hand.

Chuckling coming up from the medical wing echoed uncomfortably across the large gallery where the entire crew conglomerated. The large tyrannosaur, who had curtly called himself Grimlock, put Optimus's gigantic frame to shame from his sheer size alone. The earth trembled loudly as he walked. An audible growl came from Sideswipe, but the stranger, who clearly wasn't putting up with any of the Autobots' tantrums, ignored him.

'You sound like Old Ones. They argue before old sarcophagus crushed by stupid Primes.'

Behind Grimlock came the rest of his team. The humans who still dared to remain in the gallery cleared a wide berth around the array of creatures, wary of the 'animals' that even among Transformers were deemed unusual. Lennox and Epps made their way to Optimus' feet from their own trek down the medical wing.

'Well...' Epps started, placing the butt of his riffle by his heel. 'Do you want the good or bad news?'

Optimus passed a quick glance at Bumblebee, who still had his back to everyone. 'Good news first. I don't think we can take any more bad news.'

'Fair enough,' Will said with a cough. He and Epps shared a quick glance before Will continued. 'Good news. Sam's okay, but he's got several broken ribs. He'll hurt like a bastard for a few weeks. '

'And the bad news?' Optimus said quietly.

'Ironhide's pretty banged up. Every time Ratchet tries to patch him up, the wound degrades and he ends up worse than he was before. We don't know if he'll make it. His spark's still intact and as long as we don't touch it, he seems good. But whatever he's got is preventing him from self repairing.'

The collective sigh that followed echoed a little too loudly. Jolt's frustrated sparking covered the gallery with an etherial glow.

'Thank you, Lennox. Epps.'

Lennox shrugged. 'Wish the news was better, boss bot.'

'What do we do with the Femme?' Jolt said as the humans trotted back down the hall.

Bumblebee's voice was thin. Forced. 'Leave her alone.'

Optimus stood taller, a deep sigh rumbling from him. He forced himself to sound calmer than he really felt. An injured human and his most talented warrior - and best friend - potentially dying. He preferred foes he could fight. Ones he could hold back and drive away, but this whole situation was circuit chilling in how out of reach the goals seemed. Yet Sam had resurrected him with the power of the Matrix. Perhaps there were possible answers to their current chaos, as unreal as they seemed.

'You understand she has injured a human, Bumblebee. ' Optimus said. 'She knows it's against our current laws.'

'I know, Optimus. I was there when Ironhide grilled her.'

The Autobot commander nodded as he listened. 'Do you think she had ulterior motives for injuring Sam?'

Jolt shook his head. 'Sam said it was a test to do with the battle and him being able seeing things. Why a human, besides he's small and, I hate to say it, especially for sam, but _weak_? There's any number of the base's soldiers she could have jumped. Or one of us. She's closest to Bumblebee. I think what 'Bee's saying is true. It just doesn't add up any other way.'

Another strained sentence came from the Yellow and black Autobot. 'Let me speak to her.' The Camero whirled to face his commander. 'She wouldn't do this unless she felt there was a good for reason for it. Let me -' A pause. 'Let me interrogate her, Optimus.'

The Dinosaurs all transformed, their transformation seams forming neatly between flesh and muscle to expose metal and bone-like projections. Grimlock approached with his sword drawn. 'Who hurt who? We get call from Old Ones. They say old friend need help. We find you instead in battle, but we hear Genesis.'

The solitary flyer in the small group nodded his crested head sharply in agreement. 'Swoop say there Good fight! Good fight! But no Genesis!'

Bumblebee blinked. Had no one describe to the strange bots of their situation? Or, as the Camero was starting to realize, that perhaps they had been told but nothing had registered between their thick cranium plating?

'Genesis is currently, um, in a lot of trouble.'

The dinosaurs turned to face the Camero. 'Bee retracted to avoid the aggressive stances and piercing glares. 'Who you?' Grimlock grunted. The other dinosaurs withdrew their weapons to stand behind their leader.

'A friend of Genesis','

'You no answer me. Who _you_? What Genesis do?' The dinosaurs - rather dino_BOTs, _approached Bumblebee forcefully, causing the smaller bot to dance around them to avoid being pinned against his teammates. Grimlock leaned over to stare at the Camero, his red eyes penetrating.

Optimus slid himself to Bumblebee's side to break up the growing tension between 'bots. 'Stand down, Grimlock. There's been enough arguing.' He seemed to sound tired, even to his own audios.

'No,' was the curt reply. 'You not leader of me.'

'Would you listen to an old host, Grimms?'

Heads turned at the sound of Genesis as she walked out from the medical wing, arms locked in stasis cuffs behind her aft. Ratchet firmly guided her with a hand on a shoulder. Behind them came the military nurses with Sam quietly being led with Mikaela's guidance. His chest and sides were wrapped firmly in bandages and a large bump on his head was stitched closed. Following them came Epps and Lennox as they discussed Sam's care instructions with the military doctor.

A low growl came from Grimlock as he approached the femme. He sheathed his weapon. They did an animalistic greeting with growls and staring, which was followed by the other dinobots. Ratchet was impolitely shoved out of the way as the femme was inspected by her old confidants. Grimlock lay a hand across her chest as if noticing something and the femme nodded sharply. When they broke off, Grimlock motioned for the others to surround her and the other dinobots circled the red and black femme as if protecting her. The way Grimlock moved and his squad encircle the strange femme, it showed that she was as important to their group as each member of Optimus' team was important. In Genesis' case, it was clear she had been absent for too long. It was also clear they knew her place in the scheme of things, as they way they guarded her spoke of megacycles of practice and knowledge of her use among the Primes. Bumblebee felt a pang of jealously rise through his spark. Genesis felt it trickle through their bond and she smiled softly at her bonded. She allowed feelings of comfort and familiarity seep across their connection. Bumblebee sighed, frustrated with the whole situation. He shoved his way to his mate and the two lay against each other while Genesis verbally waved off her protectors. The Triceratopsian, Snarl, had be be physically pried away from Genesis.

Sam gave the bonded pair a guarded glare as he strided a wide berth around dinobots and Autobots alike.

'I thought you were going to help me. Not attempt to _KILL_ me.' The tone was hurt, damaged. It screamed of distrust and anger through Genesis' already stressed nerves. Mikaela's own glare could have melted Megatron's armour.

Genesis sighed, gently clanging her forehelm against 'Bee's shoulder.

'We had no time, Sam. We still don't. I'm sorry you feel undermined.' Genesis closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of her intakes play across her mate's chassis. Behind her she could feel Grimlock's familiar body crowding her, his energy signature flickering with his arrogance.

Sam weakly gestured as he spoke, the pain from his injuries keeping his otherwise loud lecture to a verbal berating. 'The battle was done before we.. _I_ ... came out of shock! What the hell were you doing? And that Prime you made me meet. What t'hell was that about? '

Bumblebee held his mate's chin up so he could look her in the optics. His expression cried out for truth. _Is it true?_ they said. _Did you really need his help?_

Genesis dropped her optics, unable to look at him. She couldn't answer him. She couldn't answer anyone. How could they understand something they couldn't feel, touch and scan with their own sensor array? Their reality was different from hers. It required a stretch of the imagination some just couldn't handle, even when confronted with shards of the truth.

She began moving when Ratchet gently shoved her to get her walking again in the direction of the brig. She gave 'Bee an apologetic stare that bordered on fear. 'Bee knew he had his answer. She had needed Sam's help, but he could sense a cover up through their bond. Misunderstanding her frustration as lies, he could only stare at her, anger, betrayal and confusion clouding his processor. He slammed his connection to his bonded with a fierce thought. He felt like he had been distorted and fed more corruption in order to feel pity for her.

Sideswipe started snickering behind him.

'Figures. I was right.'

'What the slag is that supposed to mean?' 'Bee snapped at him.

'Your precious plate denter's got motives she's not been telling you about. '

'Go defrag yourself, 'Sides.'

The silver twin took Bumblebee's viewpoint as an excuse to chuckle as he headed off towards the medical hall. That and his face had gone taken on the blank stare he got when privately pinged. He trotted backwards in his eagerness to steal some of the high grade Ironhide had swiped off the twins during a mission. If Sideswipe had been closer, he would have found a face plate filled with Camero fist.

This was the cue for the others to scatter. Optimus stood back and let Ratchet do his thing. The others disbanded to vent in their own, silent ways. Sam headed off to the caffeteria with Mikaela, Epps and Lennox while the other Autobots filed off to complete or start suddenly forgotten assignments.

'About that defragging, Bug.' Sideswipe yelled down the hall. 'Ratchet swears he does it every time we visit him in Med Bay.' He snorted. ' We have 'Cons. Rather _a_ Con. Sunny's just reported on the Decepticon emergency signal he found in South America. You can pound that fragger's head in when he gets here.'

As much as 'Bee hated Sideswipe right now, the idea of crushing Decepticon armor plate, then Sunstreaker's when he started with his insults, was more than tempting. He just hoped he didn't kill Genesis while he was at it.

'When do they arrive?' Bumblebee managed to ask, sounding more subdued than he felt.

'They're en route now. Should be here in about two earth hours.'


	17. Caged

**Reminder:** 'normal speak', **'cybertronian',** _thinking_, _/spook speak/, _:Autobot communication frequencies:, _/:spook comm frequency:/_

_Miracles - Chapter 16 - 'Caged'_

Barricade arrived at Diego Garcia feeling mildly nauseated. Being a ground pounder, he wasn't used to flying. The squishy at the controls was less than gentle when dealing with the patch of turbulence they had encountered over the stretch of Ocean between mainland and the island. Being shielded by optic blinders didn't help his situation, either. When the helicopter hit the ground with a firm thump, Barricade did all he could to slide out of the open door and hit the pavement with a shoulder. He resisted the need to purge his last (and possibly best) meal he had in far too long. The yellow Autobot behind him laughed, knocking the Decepticon onto his rump as he jumped out of the human air vehicle. Cliffjumper sprung out of the helicopter landing behind them, followed by Beachcomber.

'Welcome to the best Planet sized Pit Party in the galaxy, 'Cade.'

'Best? It's the only one, slagger.' Rather, it was the only one he knew about.

Sunstreaker only snorted, and whipped off the Decepticon's optic blinders. Barricade's sight was assaulted by static as his optics adjusted to the change in lighting. Too brilliant colors assaulted him. The wide expanse of silver-yellow sand and turquoise ocean greeted him first, followed by the grey-black of the landing pad which was active with at least fifty humans doing every form of activity he could think of. He grunted with annoyance. It was too much like that fragging landing strip humans called an airport that Frenzy had penetrated. Only now he was captured by Autobots, on an island crawling with squishies that knew how to take down a mech like himself.

Escape? No problem. If he didn't die trying to get around his current psychopath of a (painfully obnoxious yellow) hostage taker.

Beachcomber wandered over (A much more subdued tone compared to Sunstreaker's hideous yellow), ducking under the 'Copter's blades as the humans did. The Transformer was small, even compared to Jazz's standards, and barely towered over some of the humans. He started taking some of the energon cubes found in Barricade's bunker and piled them in his arms.

Barricade was going to snap at the Autobot's thievery of HIS energon, but he bit his glossa. He wasn't going to start another insult session with Sunstreaker again. (Primus.. Couldn't have Sunstreaker chosen a different tone of yellow?)

'You two made it in one piece. I thought you were going to kill each other the way we heard you argue.' Beachcomber said.

_Thank you Mr Obviousbot_, Barricade voiced to himself.

Sunstreaker smirked at the blue Autobot and grabbed the Black Mustang's shoulder hard enough to make the 'Con flinch. 'How many times do I have to tell you? Too much work. Besides. I prefer my 'Cons flying before I kill 'em.'

Barricade cursed silently to himself. His Grandsire had disappeared after Sunstreaker had captured his aft and had remained mysteriously absent the whole time. He snarled his frustration, which made some of the humans at his feet jump back. It filled him with malicious joy knowing he could scare some of the humans even when he couldn't properly defend himself.

Escape was going to be easier than he thought if this was the way the Autobots' allies acted. He snapped his jaws, taunting the humans (Primus, were they always so fragging pink?). As long as they left him alone, he was going to survive his thrice cursed luck and desert the bloody Island.

Sunstreaker half walked, half dragged the semi-blind Decepticon underground. The light wasn't as bad here, and Barricade was thankful he could at least use his thermal sensors to avoid stepping on humans too slow to get around the Autobot and his prisoner. They made their way down the long halls to what was clearly a main intersection, or meeting gallery within one of the low mountains. It was here that they met up with Sideswipe, who seemed a little too happy to have found the pair. 'Bee stood back from them, his blue eyes a hard stare.

'What crawled up the Bug's tailpipe?' Sunstreaker asked as he handed the Mustang over to his twin.

'Femmebot problems.' came the reply. Sunstreaker grunted, not completely satisfied with his sibling's short answer. Bumblebee shot the gold twin a bitter expression, knowing he was going to be the pair's new rumour topic of the jour.

From the gallery, it was a short walk to the Brig. Sideswipe was gentler than his brother, but Barricade didn't notice. His eyes fell upon the cuffed form of a red and black femme already caged in like some wild creature. Outside her cell sat a mech 'Cade had never seen before. The femme was using her spiked tail to gently scratch the red and silver mech's neck. He seemed to be in complete bliss, like Ravage when Soundwave showed a rare moment of tenderness with his symbiote. The stranger rumbled softly, his back 'kibble', which hung over his shoulders and back like large metal wings, flicking occasionally if she missed a particularly itchy spot. The drone standing in the corner was probably the lone reason why he hadn't at least attempted to let Genesis out of her cell. Either that or the strangers just didn't care.

Both jerked to attention when Sideswipe roughly threw Barricade into his own cell and slammed the security pad that activated the glowing blue-green of the brig's energon bars. He left the stasis cuffs on, but they fizzled off as soon as the Decepticon passed the doors' sensors. He was still contained, but his sensor arrays were no longer compromised. The black mustang made his way to the farthest corner from the others and with a grunt he threw himself into the bunk.

'Took you long enough to find him.' Sunstreaker said, leaning up against a wall. He watched Barricade inspect the cell.

Sideswipe shrugged. 'Why you take him alive? Figured he would have died squirming by now.'

'Orders from the boss.'

'You listened? Primus, it's going to rain high grade.'

'Slag off, 'Sides.'

Sideswipe chuckled, then tossed his brother the activation key to Barricade's cell. Sides then dug around in his subspace pocked to pull out energon goodies. 'Last box. Guess who's it is.'

'Ironhide's? Which _used_ to be _OURS_? '

'Damn staraight!'

'Sometimes you think too much like me, sibling. ' Sunstreaker said and smirked widely. He held a servo out and Sideswipe dumped a goodie onto his palm. 'He's going to kill you when he crawls out of med bay. If this bad boy,' he rattled Barricade's cell bars with the activation keys, 'doesn't shove his pedes up your skid plates first. '

'Congratulations,' Barricade said, voice weary and clearly annoyed with the conversation. 'You caught a big nasty 'Con. One you been wanting to capture for a while. Now, if you don't mind, while you interface your egos senseless, I'd like to have a stasis nap.' Barricade grunted and rolled in his bunk so his back was to the others. ' I've been needing one for a while.'

Sunstreaker snorted, giving the bars one last rattle before he headed back out the brig. 'I have some payback for Cliffjumper. Little slag wad wouldn't let me keep a cube of energon for you. ' He made a rude gesture towards Barricade before disappearing down the hall. 'Neither would the Decepticon tell us where the rest of his energon stash was. We had readings everywhere.' He cocked his head. 'C'mon. I could do with some help.' With that Sunny disappeared down the hall. Sideswipe, watching his brother leave, lingered longer. When he was sure his twin had left without him, he passed the femme a small package of energon crystals found among Barricade's energon stash.

'I'm sorry about earlier.'

'Sorry?' She ignored Barricade's whine of protest when he smelt the package of energon crystals. 'It _is_ going to rain high grade. What makes you apologize?'

Sideswipe squirmed slightly, as if uncomfortable.

'Don't make this any harder than it is.' He swallowed, hearing his brother trotting up the hall to look for the silver Autobot. ' I hate seeing 'Bee so mad.' A pause. 'Why'd you do it?'

Genesis scowled. She hated being harped, but this was always the way, even with the ancient humans. Her actions were always strange. Worst of all, 'Bee was mad. She hated the way she could feel the heat of his confusion through their close, though currently closed, bond.

'Sam needed to learn.'

'Learn what?'

'Ask Jazz. Optimus said you see him now.'

Sideswipe flinched at the 'Bot's name and he nodded.

'Do you.. Need anything else Genesis? Light?'

The femme looked up from her petting. Sideswipe's sudden helpful nature was suspicious. The Dinobot at her side eyed Sideswipe with large, blue eyes that spoke of simple pleasures but violent temper when he was provoked. It was a look Sideswipe understood as he often saw it in his own sibling. Only this giant in the Brig was probably more inclined to take orders when told to stand down.

'I could ask you for some energon goodies, but I fear Ironhide will kill you before I got to see the container again.' She smiled slightly, hearing Jazz mumble something about stolen energon goodies and paint in the back of her head. 'Thank you Sideswipe. Oh.. And be careful by the storage bunker. Jazz might have a prank in store for you.'

Sideswipe smiled, his grin hiding a touch of pain still remaining from discovering about Jazz's demise. She knew he was happier knowing his former team mate was feeling better, despite the lack of physical body. The tough shell he worse was often a partial act, probably so he could tolerate his sibling's rough nature.

'That bastard is so lucky he's dead.'

Sunstreaker finally appeared at the brig entrance, his form blocking some of the hall's light as he leaned in to chuck a tool at his sibling. He then banged the door frame.

'Come _ON_, 'Sides! I can't do this myself. Cliffjumper's begging for a processor kicking.'

The wall that Sideswipe had taken down immediately slammed back into place at the sound of his twin's voice. Sideswipe cracked his servos and shrugged. ''Bee's lucky to have you, Gen, as much of an aft pain you can be. I would have taken you myself if you weren't already his.'

Genesis laughed.

'Liar.'

'Maybe. Maybe. I gotta go.; In a softer tone he added, ' I'll make sure the squishies send you some light later.' He gave Genesis one, tense look and he left, leaving the thrumming Dinobot, Genesis and Barricade to be guarded by the silent drone.


	18. Reoccurring Nightmares

**Reminder:** 'normal speak', **'cybertronian',** _thinking_, _/spook speak/, _:Autobot communication frequencies:, _/:spook comm frequency:/_

**Ka** = Spirit or soul. Ancient Egyptian.

_Miracles - Chapter 16 - 'Reoccurring Nightmares'_

'It's about time he left.' Barricade sat up in his bunk, then proceeded to pry at a piece of his cuffs with his denta. 'He talks too much.' He tugged several times at the activation node, then with several hard bangs against the wall, managed to knock open the item. They fell to the floor with an impressive '_clang_!'. Barricade kicked the cuffs under his bed, then laid back on his bunk, resting his servos behind his head.

'So,' he said after some silence. 'What you in here for?'

'Fate.'

'Huh?'

The Dinobot at her cell doors growled and began to rise.

'It mean none you business.' he challenged.

Genesis' hand came down on the Dinobot's arm, and she smiled softly. 'It's okay, Sludge. He follows his **Ka**. He is... different from the others. He is descended from Seekers.'

Sludge gave Barricade one more wary glare before settling back down beside his team mate. Barricade cocked his head as he studied their interaction. He then shook his head before rolling in his bunk.

'Fate. Right.' he said. 'Fate that Megatron lead us to civil war. Fate that I was sent after the slagging Bug to this planet. Fate that Starscream took over. Then I hear from Autobots that Megatron is resurrected and The Fallen takes over? Then Fate that the Earth doesn't blow up with the sun. Fate that I'm here. Right. Fate and I get along fine without each other. '

The brig feel eerily silent after that. Besides the occasional grunt from the Dinobot and a satisfied snore from Barricade as he drifted in and out of recharge, it was uneventful. Perhaps painfully so. Until the _presence_ appeared.

Barricade immediately jerked awake, sensing the creeping feeling of dread fill his cell. He crawled off his bunk and eyed the half lit space around him, expecting to see something. It was as if the _presence_ was attempting to materialize and failed at its efforts. He recognized the sensation from the forest when the Jinn had attacked him, only this time he knew it was Cybertronian in origin. He could feel the energetic hum of energon and the rippling waves of energy that came with a Spark beat. He could only describe the thing in emotions as words would not or could not describe the sensations starting to flood his sensors. Whatever it was, it meant trouble.

He caught a glimpse of Genesis. She was staring at something in his cell, her eyes locked hard on something beside him. The Dinobot, too, was distracted by something only they could see.

'Don't. Move.' Genesis said as Barricade turned to eye the space she was enthraled with. It wasn't a request. An order like that would have gotten her struck if he had been running the brig.

The _presence_ approached. The feeling of dread warped into a confused sensation of observation and calculation. He could feel an energy imprint that ached it was so familiar. It registered as Decepticon to his senses yet... yet it was strange enough that he couldn't label it as anything from a world that he could touch or crush with his servos. There was a ripple in the side of the wall and Barricade instinctively went for his weapons, only to realize that they'd been unceremoniously gutted from his frame when captured by Sunstreaker.

The red and black femme spoke again, this time her tone more demanding. 'I told you not to move. It's scanning you.' She turned to Sludge and said something in a language Barricade didn't bother translating.

'**Get Grimlock.'**

The Dinobot nodded and, as impossible as it seemed for its bulk, stalked out of the brig. The _presence_ didn't seem to notice the Dinobot leaving.

'What in Unicron's unholy names _is_ it?' the black mustang asked. He focused all four of his eyes on the spot shifting in and out of reality in front of him.

Genesis remained still herself. 'The Fallen. Or one of his minions.'

'Didn't that fragger die?' Barricade bit his glossa and the growl that almost escaped him. He was finding that just because one did didn't mean that they stayed unable to affect his reality.

'Yes.'

'What is he doing?' Barricade asked. He swallowed, wanting to move away from the thing. After the attack by the Jinn, he wasn't going to screw around with things he couldn't see. Never mind couldn't see, didn't _understand_, despite Jetfire's lengthy lectures!

'He cannot distinguish you from your environment.' Genesis said. 'He scans because he cannot converse with us without his sarcophagus. I suspect he's curious as to why you're here.' Her face darkened. 'He knows you are Decepticon and feels there may have been a successful attack. He also knows why I am here and needs to know if you're the Decepticon the Primes seek.'

Barricade whipped his head around to stare at Genesis.

'Why the slag are you always talking in riddles, femme? For -'

That's when the _presence_ in Barricade's cell whipped it's attention to Genesis. The wall flickered violently and the _presence's_ emotional imprint flipped from calculation to anger and orders. The wall's material almost became alive as it moved. Then the _presence_ disappeared. It was immediately replaced by a large dark shadowy mass ricocheting out of the wall and latching itself to the black mustang.

Barricade went down hard, unable to defend himself from the shadow. It had no form, but its multi tentacled aspect lashed out to grab the Decepticon. Every time it touched him, the Decepticon felt searing agony. He collected himself mentally to grab the thing as his grandsire had taught him, to focus as if the creature was a real object in front of him. Every time Barricade thought he had captured it, it slid out of his grasp like wet jelly. He managed to stumble around it several times, only to see it drift up against him and shove a tendril into his frame and squeeze his spark. Whatever it was, it had every intention on killing him and absorbing what energy it produced from their conflict.

Barricade gave it another hard shove. The _presence_ shoved a second tendril into his chassis, and the black mustang was overcome by exhaustion as his spark was drained. The frozen dark paralyzed him as he struggled to remove the thing from himself. A hard kick to the shadow's centre caused it to scuttle backwards and for a moment Barricade felt relief. He retched, the day's nausea not quite gone, as he recovered. Then the _thing_ condensed and dove entirely into the Decepticon. Barricade screamed in protest, clawing at his armour. He kicked out again, denting the bunk and leaving rents in the floor as he struggled. The thing was strained against his mental walls, actively setting off his fear and anger so it could feed off the emotions. At some point he swore he could feel the slop of wet energon and the creaking of damaged joints. Barricade missed the bustle of activity that shattered the brig's constraints and the bars to his cell deactivating. He missed the hands that pulled him out of the cell by his shoulders and only when the agonizing weight in his chassis left did he finally see who his saviours were.

Genesis was beside him, applying something to a series of burned gouges in his armour. She drew several glyphs on his forehelm while giving sharp orders to a random mech at her side. The paste took the sting off the wounds and helped bring energy back to his systems. Bumblebee was helping Ratchet hold him down while Optimus was at the brig entrance, having a heated discussion with several of his team. He gave them several curt commands and they took off down the hall, their heavy pede falls echoing down the empty space.

Impossibly, he could see Jazz in the background, the silver solstice eyeing him with disdain and... _Worry_? Beside him, popping straight out of the floor, came Ravage. The mustang shook his head, feeling disoriented and wondering if seeing dead mecha was a hallucination or if this 'fate' thing was screwing with his processors. Barricade shuttered his optics and groaned. His day was going from bad to worse.

Genesis drew back, allowing Ratchet to take over. Ratchet reluctantly allowed the femme to mark his forehelm with the paste she'd been using on Barricade. Then she handed the pot she was holding to one of the dinobots behind her and wandered back to her cell. There she knelt and began muttering to herself.

From beside the unharmed drone at the back of the brig, Jetfire scowled. The Fallen himself had plotted this attack. He knew that Barricade had a use and that the femme and Barricade were in the same room together was not going to bode well for anyone on Diego Garcia. The elder spirit sighed, then flitted off towards the human barracks.

The time to force the human, Sam, into his place beside the Primes had finally come. Jetfire hoped the impending war between ghost and chaos could hold off to teach the human how to speak to the Primes. In order for peace to stay, Barricade's ancestor needed be reborn in this world.


	19. Power Trip

**Reminder:** 'normal speak', **'cybertronian',** _thinking_, _/spook speak/, _:Autobot communication frequencies:, _/:spook comm frequency:/_

_Miracles - Chapter 16 - 'Power Trip'_

Some time after his trip to the cafeteria, Sam woke up to something licking his head. At first he thought it was Mojo or Frankie, but it slowly it sunk in that the tongue was more than big, it was gigantic and it carried a hint of diesel. Plus he wasn't remotely anywhere near his parent's place, if the heat coming off the sun exposed windows said anything. His eyes slammed open and he found himself staring into the mane of the largest... _thing ... _he had ever seen that wasn't explicitly robotic in origin.

Grimacing from pain as he forced himself to sit up, he squeaked and flailed desperately beside his bunk for his pants. Staring across from him was Jetfire as he had last seen him, back when he had offered his body for Optimus to use to combat The Fallen. Impossibly, the large mecha's frame was fitting in the room, although the fit was tight.

/_About time you wake up, boy. We need. To talk._/

The creature that had woken Sam, looking much like a bright red Chinese Dragon, clattered into Jetfire's lap and nudged the former Decepticon's servo for a scratch. Immediately the mecha began petting the creature. He lay his cane up against his leg.

_/You missed the fun in the brig./_

'Do you guys ever knock?' Sam said, ignoring Jetfire's question while digging through his suitcase for a shirt.

_/Don't be obtuse, Samual Witwicky. We have business. I need to use you now that we have real problems./_

Sam looked up at the ghost, slowly strapping on a well worn belt. The dragon cocked it's red head out of curiosity as the belt was looped into place, looking like a large, metallic feathered dog.

'You mean Genesis' suspicions about The Fallen are coming true?'

_/Considering that my grandcreation was just attacked, I would say yes. /_ There was a pause as Jetfire examined Sam. He shoved the dragon onto the floor and the creature, irritated, scrambled through a wall. _/I never did understand why you humans wore clothing. I would figure it just gets in the way./_

Sam just shot the Blackbird a dark glare and grabbed a water bottle beside his alarm clock. 'Where do we go?' he asked.

_/No where without me. Too many things out there that eat squishies./ _He disappeared as Sam walked out the door, and reappeared in the hallway. The dragon was batting around one of Ratchet's discarded medical probes._ /First, Ironhide. I need to speak to him./_

Sam led the way to the medical wing. Jetfire said nothing as they walked, remaining rather dark expressioned as they made their way down the halls. Sam waved an occasional hello to soldiers bustling by, who quickly saluted. They never perceived Jetfire or the dragon. The halls were absent of most Mecha, which Sam found rather unusual, as there was often a crowd doing something. If it wasn't the twins Mudflap and Skids doing another line of chores for breaking command (Something that only Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were worse at), there was Arcee having something looked at by Jolt. Now there was only the high whine of Wheelie doing one thing or another in the distance and the dragon chasing glowing balls around the halls. The loud squealing clang of Jetfire's cane was the only real sound in the normally active base.

They arrived at the med bay, which was manned by the base's main doctor. Sam was about to ask about Ironhide's location when the dr waved him in, pointing at the large door where Ratchet kept his most severely ill patients.

'If you can believe it, but ... Jazz said you were going to be here. ' he said. He blushed furiously. Sam gave the dr a quick thank you and disappeared into the depths of the medical facilities.

Ironhide was a mess. Sam was assaulted by the smell of fresh energon and ozone from partially welded cables. Wires and tubes kept the topkick's systems alive, though it was clear they could do more if his stasis wasn't so dire. Jetfire pulled up a chair, which appeared to move on its own, and sat beside the mecha. Jetfire then reached out to grab Sam. Laying his cane against Ironhide's berth before he moved. Sam flinched as he was miraculously lifted by invisible hands and placed beside the ailing Ironhide.

_/Don't think he can't hear./_ Jetfire said, tapping his helm._ /He may look like slag, but he's there./_

'Okaaaay. Now we're here. What do I do?'

_/We are playing a game of ask and don't tell. We need answers boy and you're going to help./_ A pause as the dragon crawled into Jetfire lap. The blackbird scowled, as if sensing the boy's mind. /_Didn't you get taught how to concentrate, boy? I thought humans were into that kind of thing./ _He flexed his servos then ticked off a list of subjects on his phalanges._ /Candles. Chanting. Praying. Jazz calls it New Age Fluff. You _do_ know how to pray, Sam, do you not? Certainly Genesis reminded you of those skills?/_

Sam only gave the Blackbird a confused stare.

Jetfire rolled his optics and gently shoved the human closer to Ironhide's side. _/Place a hand on him and imagine yourself talking to him./_ The blackbird smiled, then scratched his frilled chin. _/Now watch the magic begin. I'll guide you./_

Sam, still uncertain, hesitantly placed a hand on Ironhide's side. The mech felt colder than usual, but he could detect the faint pulse of life that resonated from every Cybertronian when one was around them. He could feel the gentle tug of alien magnets working systems he could only imagine what they were used for. The gentle hiss of internal hydraulics squeaked every so often. Sam studied his friend, always amazed at how both utterly strange yet how whole the Transformer anatomy was. He lifted his eyes and studied the topkick's side. He could see the rents in the elder soldier's armour. The glow from his spark cast living shadows across his chassis and berth like a miniature sun. Sam felt pity for his friend. He closed his eyes, focusing on the tingling sensation that Ironhide's systems left on his finger tips and tried to imagine himself speaking to the mecha. He thought he could feel something fluttering in the back of his head, starting as flashes of color but not quite becoming recognizable. Sam passed it off as mental chatter. He was about to give up when he felt a force swoop up upon the back of his mind. He was immediately grabbed by something and pinned and Ironhide's face became clear as daylight in his mind.

_/Tell Sunstreaker I'm going kill him when I get out off this slag infested berth!/_

Sam found himself slamming his eyes open and pulled away from Ironhide. Jetfire was grinning, and Sam shot him a horrified glare.

_/You need practice, but good enough first try./_the Blackbird chuckled.

'How the hell do you know what I'm supposed to do?' Sam said to Jetfire, shaking his hand as if it was burned. He had felt Ironhide flinch when he had stepped away.

_/I 'm dead. You tend to pick up these things./_ If a Transformer could look smug, Jetfire was wearing the expression.

Sam shook his head and figuring he was doing something right, tried to contact Ironhide again.

He was pinned by the mental force a second time and again ironhide's face appeared in his head like a living photograph. It had been waiting for him.

_/I swear to Primus if I catch him going through my stuff again, he's going beg for death!/_Ironhide snapped. Sam was overwhelmed by the mecha's emotions - alien yet oddly familiar. Tense and ready for action. Infuriated and hurt.

'_Ironhide?' _Sam found his mental self scowling.

_/What?/ _The abruptness of the topkick's response wasn't completely unexpected, but it still made Sam flinch.

'_Um.. I'm supposed to talk to you.' _When a wash of confusion flooded his senses, Sam quickly added,_ 'I'm as lost as you are.' _

Jetfire's presence slid into the conversation. He was warmer than Ironhide's mind with a hint of humour every time he articulated. Sam felt Ironhide step back and size up the other mech. After some silence, Ironhide spoke.

_/Why are you here, Jetfire?/_

The Blackbird shrugged, then looked over his 'shoulder', as if checking if anyone unexpected was going to disturb their conversation.

_/__**The thing that attacked you. **__/ _Jetfire said, hopping from english to Cybertronian._ /Did it say anything before you went down? We had a visitor in the brig very recently./_

Ironhide grunted.

_/Mumbled something about how The Fallen will return. Same line he gave Optimus before we took him down in Shanghai. /_

Jetfire eyed Sam. _/That Mech is still stuck in the battle that took him down, /_he explained. _/Some mechs, when they deactivate, think they're still functioning./_ He returned to Ironhide. _/What else did he say?/_

_/What do you mean 'what else'? I told you all I remember. Unless you want to know the list of profanity he threw at me./_The topkick was silent for a moment, searching his memory cache. He then reached out and 'grabbed' the Blackbird. _/No. Wait. He said something I didn't understand. /_

Jetfire nudged Sam, causing the human to stumble slightly both in his mind and on the berth.

_/Sam. This is where we need your help. You can understand things we can't. I may be old, but I don't understand the human variation of the Language of the Primes./_

Sam wheeled to 'face' Jetfire. _'I thought you could just download these things._'

_/It's like th'problems humans have with some letters in another alphabet. English L and Chinese R for instance. We can't differentiate some subtleties in your languages. We can mimic them, but we don't understand them/_

Sam nodded. _'Wouldn't you learn that stuff from the internet? '_

Jetfire heaved heavily through his vents, as if Sam was missing the obvious. Sam could feel the warmth of the ghost's 'breath' surround him, even in his mind.

_/Just listen, boy. We don't pick up on all the subtleties in human speech. We're just not made for it. Which you clearly _can_. You're a shaman now, be it a young one. You have the ability to translate for us even if you've never heard the language before./_

Sam was silent then slowly nodded. '_Okay. I think I understand now.'_

And so Ironhide repeated what he had filed away in his memory cache.

Sam didn't dare repeat what Ironhide had reminisced, at least at first. He struggled to translate the bizarre pronunciations that seemed on the verge of breaking Cybertronian but never broke into the buzzes and clicks of the alien's digital language. He decoded what he could, going over it several times wanting to please both the ghost and his wounded friend, then shook his head in frustration.

'_Something about Jazz sucking off the chrome plating off his... Errr... __**Interface cord**__?...'_

_/Think human genitalia, Sam/ _Ironhide said softly. His quiet pang of annoyance could barely be read in the back of Sam's head.

'_... When Ironhide's stuck out here rusting. And that he was going to make sure The Legions would keep him aside for The Fallen's personal whore. Right next to .. I don't know. It feels like the name of someone. I can't pronounce it.'_

Ironhide nodded as Sam spoke. Jetfire watched, intently contemplating what the human said right up to the point Sam couldn't translate the name.

_/ Anubis? __**Apuat**__?/_ Jetfire offered.

'_The second one,' _Sam said. Ironhide gently nudged Sam while Jetfire groaned.

_/Primus. / _They heard the elderly blackbird gripe as he disappeared. _/Genesis will have to tell her creator-mother this. /_

'_There's more,' _Sam said to the topkick._ 'I think he said the wants to be there when the mass possessions start. The dead start walking and the four horsemen. Like a badly worded chapter out of the bible. We're in trouble aren't we, Ironhide?'_

Ironhide smirked. _/Don't humans have an 'evil overlord' rule about minions never telling your master plans to the enemy?/_

Sam shrugged. '_I guess so. This guy definitely didn't real the rule book.'_

Ironhide gently nudged him a second time with a playful shove. Despite the large mech's caution, it still felt like Sam was being pounded by a very annoyed, metal horse.

_/Go. Optimus needs to hear what you know. Jazz'll be back and I'd rather we were left in peace for a while. He's worried about me./_

Sam scowled. Before he left he fought to keep his voice calm.

'_You're not going to die are you?'_

Ironhide broke out into roaring laughter. The mental image of his face slowly faded in Sam's mind as the human came back to reality.

_/Me? Primus no!/ _his voice rang out, as clear in his mind as if he were really talking._ / I've been through worse and pulled out fine. Besides. I have a set of twins to string out for those Decepticon scavengers. / _He snorted._ /Slaggers owe me a box of energon goodies. /_


End file.
